A Book A Week

The View has graced televisions across the US for over twenty years, becoming as well known for talking about the news as it has for making news of its own. What started as a strange turn in the career of famed journalist Barbara Walters soon became a ratings and cultural juggernaut. Walter's simple format of combining women of varying ages, cultures, and backgrounds to discuss current events not only worked well but inspired numerous other imitators. In his book Ladies Who Punch Ramin Setoodeh combines revealing interviews, newly unearthed audio/video clips, and his own narrative prowess to provide a complete and unflinching look at the history of the hit show.

I'll admit to tuning into some episodes of the show from time to time, but I wouldn't call myself a huge fan. When it works, there is no denying the power of the conversations that The View is able to produce. The problem recently is that the show really hasn't been working. Throughout the history of the show, in fact, it seems to have faced a large amount of controversy, both on and off the air. From the start, Barbara Walters's idea to create a daytime talk show seemed like a huge gamble. The veteran reporter had a particular amount of clout and esteem within the industry and many feared a morning show would dilute that reputation. As Setoodeh writes, the behind the scenes drama and controversy may have sullied Barbara's reputation to some, but for better or worse she is largely recognized today as the creator of the show.

The biggest draw for many readers will be the new insights that are provided by Setoodeh's interviews with several of the key hosts. Beyond a pretty wild transcription of Elisabeth Hasselbeck having a meltdown during a commercial break one day, there really isn't a ton of new information. If you followed the news as major events happened on the show, you're pretty much already in the loop. That being said, Setoodeh is able to provide first-hand perspective and insight around specific events that really illuminate some of the more controversial moments. Rosie O'Donnell, in particular, was extremely forthcoming in her conversations about all the on and off air happenings involving her.

As the title suggests, Ladies Who Punch revels in the tabloid moments from The View, especially the infighting between co-hosts. The publisher's summary of the book compares the drama to Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury, and I think that is a pretty accurate comparison. Like that political "tell-all" Setoodeh's book makes a big show of the soap-opera turmoil in favor of giving a nuanced, balanced take on each situation. To be fair, not every co-host agreed to an interview with Setoodeh. Still, there are times when his own personal feelings about a situation overtook the narrative. In the end, Ladies Who Punch is not that different from the show it discusses. At times, it provides thoughtful commentary on moments in time. Other times, it is a mess of excessive opinion and drama. Even still, I couldn't stop reading.

For more information visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads.
(2019, 19)