These passages could be read as not-entirely-convincing bids for relatability, and I can imagine them being grating for anyone who is looking to break into TV while not being blond and 125 pounds (Couric mentions this in a tone that makes it clear she thinks this is a high number).īut while she occasionally comes off as clueless or blinkered, it's also harder to blame her for these views when she writes about, for example, CBS releasing a promotional photo of her edited to make her look dramatically thinner, or a media executive saying he never wanted to see her on screen without makeup again. The warping effects of having her looks managed and curated by various media overlords are on display in Couric's frequent portrayals of herself as an awkward ugly duckling, with what she calls "Campbell's Soup Kid looks." She contrasts herself dramatically with "sleek and sophisticated" Diane Sawyer (as if they weren't basically identical blond women with TV presenter looks). You get the feeling Couric is relishing her ability to be visceral and vulnerable after so many years of being coiffed and poised on screen. One of the more unexpected and interesting aspects of the book is the way it brims with experiences of the body: Couric's skin turning orange after a misguided carrot diet or years struggling with bulimia, as well as funnier, grosser stories about not showering for days or squirting breast milk across the room to shock her husband. Much of this is quoted shamelessly out of context, but the "there" of Going There does turn out to encompass a lot of intimate details of Couric's life: She's open about industry sexism, professional rivalries, the death of her first husband, and her relationship with former Today Show co-anchor Matt Lauer, who was fired after allegations of sexual misconduct. This book is."Įxcerpts of the book, out on Tuesday, have been leaked to tabloids, which in past days have been running plenty of breathless coverage claiming Going There "torches" or "eviscerates" various celebrities and professional rivals.
Television, she writes, "is not the whole story, and it is not the whole me. "Real life - the complications and contradictions, the messy parts- remains outside the frame."
"On TV, you are larger than life but somehow smaller, too, a neatly cropped version of who you are," writes Katie Couric in a new memoir, teasingly titled Going There.
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