Best Bette
An interview with ‘On Bette Midler’ author Kevin Winkler GREGG SHAPIRO | Q Music GreggShapiro@aol.com In her own distinctive way, the divine Bette Midler has been telling her own story throughout her career.
Via her music, stage shows, movies, countless TV appearances, on the page and through her activism, Midler has kept us abreast (sorry, I couldn’t resist) of who she is.
With his new book, On Bette Midler: An Opinionated Guide (Oxford University Press, 2024), gay writer Kevin Winkler has taken on the task of not only tracing Midler’s personal chronology, but also taking an in-depth look into her performing life; warts and all.
Winkler succeeds in being both entertaining — he doesn’t hold back in his running commentary — and informative — if you didn’t know about the early 1970s video of Midler performing Joni Mitchell’s “For Free” at the Continental Baths, available on YouTube, you do now.
