Books

Audition, the memoir of the most celebrated female television journalist in history, hit bookstands Tuesday (Knopf, $29.95). But those in search of singular shocks or rocking revelations will be disappointed.

Barbara Walters has written an intelligent, thoughtful, often kind and even revealing autobiography. But with few exceptions (such as her affair with former Sen. Edward Brooke), hers is a long career played before the public eye. We already know the narrative well. WFAA-TV (Channel 8) airs a special pegged to Audition tonight at 9.

That, however, does not mean that Ms. Walters did not have a few surprises left. Here, in chronological order, are a few things fans probably didn't know:

• Her father, nightclub impresario Lou Walters, attempted suicide in 1958. His newest club had failed, and he fell into a deep depression. On the way to the hospital, writes his daughter: "For the first time, I had the most overwhelming feelings of love and compassion for him. I kept stroking his face and saying, 'Daddy, Daddy, Daddy.' "

• She had several miscarriages. She has discussed this before, when talking about her adopted daughter, Jackie. But the discussion here seems like a wound never closed: When pregnant, "You're ecstatic, then you all but fall apart when you drop to the low. ... I feel guilty even saying it, but the truth is that I'm almost thankful I didn't have a baby. I think of my (mentally disabled) sister. Was her condition hereditary?"

• Ms. Walters is almost certainly a Republican. In these pages, she is sympathetic to Richard Nixon, and has a real fondness for George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. (She and Henry Kissinger are old pals.) Democrats? This line about Hillary Rodham Clinton, at their first interview, makes one wonder: "She looked great. Mrs. Clinton is quite small on top but rather large in the hips."

• She dated Alan Greenspan, who was a cheapskate. Yes, Ms. Walters' old fling is well-known, but she's delicious on the subject: "If I had a reservation, it was that Alan was very frugal, not just with me, but with himself. He wore the same navy blue raincoat until it practically fell apart."

• Rosie O'Donnell was a difficult co-host. Surprised? Ha! Of course not. But Ms. Walters lards the familiar tale with extra details: The premise of The View, she says, is teamwork, "but for Rosie, it was more like Diana Ross and the Supremes, as little by little she took over."

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