The Liz Smith Column | 08/12/2009 11:00 pm
Liz Smith: Barbra Streisand – Finally Letting Go, But Still Singing Out
Also from Our Gossip Girl, Penélope Cruz – a real movie star, and Whitney Houston – she won’t speak, don’t ask her.
Barbra Streisand © AP
"Marcel Proust doesn’t hesitate to judge society people and accuse them of stupidity. He finds them stupid but superior, which is the very definition of snobbism," wrote the artist Jean Cocteau.
Probably not too many of you are struggling to read Jane Austen or Marcel Proust while you lounge this summer in your hammock. But in case you want a quick, easy and short but brilliant write-up on the great French novelist, try Edmund White’s little book, Marcel Proust: A Life.
Mr. White, a famous American expatriate, himself says this: "Certainly Proust may have started out as a snob, but he ended up as the most penetrating critic of snobbism who ever lived. He showed how empty are its victories, how evanescent its conquests. More particularly, he demonstrated the vanity and cruelty, the insecurity and affectedness – and snobbishness of even the most sought-after members of society."
Are you listening, out there in the Hamptons? And up and down Fifth and Park Avenues, as well as in the rampant swankier neighborhoods of lower Manhattan, and on "Real Housewives" shows the world over.
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Barbra Streisand has given up more than 400 of her cherished clothes, movie and stage costumes, furniture, and collectables that she has had in storage for years. These will travel in September aboard the Queen Mary 2 for an exhibit in Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland. Then, on October 17-18, the collection will be in New York for sale. Proceeds go to Streisand’s pet charities for women, children, environmental and political causes.
"I am through with extra stuff," says Babs. "What good does it do in storage? Let someone else enjoy it. I’m a collector, but now I have enough; it’s a good time to clean closets."
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But forget closets. The really big Barbra news is her return to her small-scale nightclub roots for a one-night gig at NYC’s Village Vanguard on Sept.26. Only 100 free tickets will be made available to fans. You have to go to her official website to get all the details. One hundred inside the club, and lord knows how many clamoring outside that night! This woman still fills stadiums; the logistics, the crowd control, are going to be daunting. But for those lucky 100 – what a treat to hear Barbra croon once again in so intimate a space.
***
Speaking of great singing divas, the advance word on Whitney Houston’s long-awaited album is terrific; her voice has apparently retained its fabled luster. So that’s good. What’s bad? Whitney’s people are keeping the star on a low burner. Very few interview requests are being answered in the affirmative. Even this office, where we have spoken only well of her, was told the star is "conserving herself." Hmmmm … I don’t know much, but I do know the record industry is in dire straits. Nobody’s selling a lot of records anymore. La publicite, Whitney! Think about it.
Whitney Houston © Getty Images
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Recent Oscar-winner Penélope Cruz has a new movie with her Spanish mentor Pedro Almodóvar. And it will bow any minute.
"Broken Embraces" is described as a complex cinema noir about a doomed love affair between the mistress of a dynamic domineering millionaire and her blind movie director. It works in flashbacks and features a film within a film. Critics are calling it "Penélope’s most impressive work to date … she looks like a real movie star!"
Penélope Cruz © Photobucket
As for Penélope’s own real-life director, Mr. Almodóvar is about to be 60 years old. He is looking to Clint Eastwood and Woody Allen as his inspirations for going on directing even though he is no longer young.
Read more about: Barbra Streisand, Books, Celebrities, Charity, Christopher Hitchens, Clint Eastwood, Directing, Duke of York, Edmund White, Edward VIII, Entertainment, Film, Gossip, Ireland, Jane Austen, Jean Cocteau, Liz Smith, Marcel Proust, Margaret Thatcher, Mother Teresa, New York City, News, Pedro Almodovar, Penelope Cruz, Prince Charles, Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II, The Liz Smith Column, Whitney Houston, William Shawcross, Woody Allen
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22 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
Boy did you cover a lot of turf on this one.
Let’s see…."yes" to Proust in summer. Too perfect. Think Deauville, think Cherie, think Belle Epoque. I love tackling difficult books in the summer. Well…anytime really. I remember reading An American Tragedy at fourteen by the ocean one summer, surrounded by cute surfer boys. Same summer, I was also reading Crime and Punishment, and I remember being out in the Atlantic Ocean with one of the boys who had seen me reading, and him saying to me, "What’s that book about?" I have to laugh. WHAT was I thinking? D’oh. :::head slap:::
I know from reading over the years that Ms. Streisand has immense collections from a lot of eras. She’s wise to divest. I certainly don’t own on her scale, but as each year passes, more departs my possession. It seems logical. Why leave it sitting idly behind for someone to have to deal with at such a difficult time? As for her returning to her roots. I always love it when performers do that. The intimacy of a small room can’t be matched. The acoustics are usually better, too. You’re right. It’s going to be a zoo scene. The lucky few inside, and outside in the streets a screaming hoard of fans.
I’m afraid I never had any interest in Whitney Houston, and even less after her train wreck of a life, to date. Kuddos for those still hanging around waiting for something to happen that will give them pleasure.
Penelope Cruz is a true movie star in the sense we all consider one to be. Elegant, talented, disciplined, strong. I just love watching her perform, and I know I’ll be seeing her latest movie.
Christopher Hitchens is a writer after my D.C. heart. I just love him. Love him. When he went after Mommy Teresa in life and in death, I was cheering him on. Agreed. I can’t wait to read what he has to say about the Queen Mother book. I know I’ll be reading it.
This column of yours had a lot of meat on the bone. :)
Good to know there are Christopher Hitchens’ fans lurking about here. I enjoy him thoroughly, although disagreed with his stance on the Iraq War and geee––how could he not love the Queen Mum? Did she spit in his eye on occasion? She was a precious woman who had a wonderful sense of humor. Her stance during WWII was exemplary.
Alain de Bottom wrote, "How Proust Can Change Your Life." A very curious, humorous, didactic, dazzling book. We learn the minutia of Proust’s everyday functions from his poops to his talcum powder. We learn that he was so attached to his mother that, well past the age of thirty, he gave her detailed reports on is sleep, his "peeing" and his bowel movements. Proust once said, "Happiness is good for the body, but it is grief which develops the strengths of the mind." Tell that to some of the posters on the Nevin thread this morning. Don’t think they would agree, but it’s a concept worth pondering.
60 is no longer young? Thanks a lot, Liz. I was feeling pretty good, till I read that.
Regarding Cruz, am I the only one who doesn’t get her. I don’t think she’s beautiful, I don’t think she’s particularly talented. I actually find her annoying in films. Oh well LIZ, it must be my age.
Liz, this column was like opening a large tin of caviar and spooning it up with merry abandon - so many great little tidbits! I second your recommendation of the Edmund White bio of Proust - one master stylist addressing another. And I DID once spend an entire summer immersed in In Search of Lost Time and it literally changed the way I see the world in all its complex, cruel, beautiful existence. Nothing much has changed aside from the fashion since Proust put his Paris under the microscope!
Loved the Queen Mum anecdotes, too. For me, the best moment of her life was back in the dark days of the Blitz in WWII. The morning after Buckingham Palace had been bombed, she stated, "Now I can look the Eastenders in the eye." And if she loved a tot of gin - - - well she earned it!
And Christopher Hitchens is someone whose writing I adore, even when I don’t agree with him. (Maybe especially when I don’t agree with him!) I think his essay on his experience of being waterboarded should be mandatory reading - anyone with a question about whether this is "torture" needs to hear what really happens, and Hitchens brings it very vividly to life.
Streisand and Houston coming out with new albums? Be still my heart!
Lauren Hutton, I think.
Peace and grace
My prays and best wishes are being sent to Whitney Houston. If the photograph above represents how she appears today she looks fantastic! Something tells me once she’s closer to her album’s release date the doors will swing open to all wishing to interview her.
I’ve never given a damn about the opinions of snobs! They’ve an ignorant, pathetic , insecure and pitiful group! Important in their own imaginations a running joke.
Though, I’ve never been a fan of Barbara Streisand I applaud her good works and desire to simplify her life and use it for worthy causes.