I have had two conversations with Barbra Streisand. Both were one-sided. One lasted about a minute. The other went on for more than 48 hours.

The first took place on election night at a reception for Bill Clinton in Little Rock, Ark.

I was buzzing with excitement thinking there was no way anything could be more thrilling than being invited to watch election results with the president. That’s when I spotted her across the room. Barbra Streisand was standing only a few feet away.

With all the enthusiasm of an oversized puppy, I practically leaped on top of her and seized her perfectly manicured hand in mine and proceeded to blurt how she was my idol, how much I loved her and how meeting her was the greatest honor of my life.

Horrified, she expertly slipped her hand out of mine, careful not to break a nail, and I heard her mutter “Thank you very much” as she ran (and I mean ran) away from me.

The second meeting went much better. I simply popped in my earbuds and, for the next 48 hours, 17 minutes, Barbra told me her life’s story — as read by her on the audiobook “My Name is Barbra.”

Barbra is one of the top recording artists of all time, selling more than 150 million records. She has won 10 Grammys, five Emmys, two Oscars, one Tony, nine Golden Globes and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Now 81, Barbra tells the sometimes painful, lonely story of growing up in Brooklyn without a father (he died when she was 15 months old), and with a jealous mother (she wanted to be a singer and actress) and a stepfather who ignored her. Barbra’s brother, Shelly, and her grandmother were the only ones who showed her real love.

Barbra admits to being a difficult child who fantasized of becoming an actress. She was curious and meticulous, demanding of everyone around her, including herself. That hasn’t changed.

She retraces how she started her singing career by winning a singing competition where the grand prize was a weeks long contract to perform at the famous Bon Soir nightclub in New York. She never thought her singing skills were particularly good; it was acting that she had set her sights on. Yet it was singing that led to her first film, “Funny Girl.”

The beauty of this audiobook is that the narrative is dotted with audio excerpts of various performances over her lifetime. In fact, this book took me three times longer to get through, as I had to stop and watch every film she made so as to understand the nuances of what she was referring. I also had to listen to her albums again and heard them in a way I never had before.

It’s a funny thing listening to a person’s autobiography read by them. There is an intimacy that goes beyond even listening to their albums or watching them on the screen for 50-plus years. They share their soul in a raw way. Barbra’s narration is, of course, perfectly delivered — funny, honest, tearful and sad.

About 20 hours into the book, I started to wonder whether she would talk more about her personal life and less about her life as a singer, actress and director. I soon realized that is exactly who Barbra is. Her life has been about creating art. There is really no distinction between who she is and what she does.

Barbra has had a contentious relationship with the press. “Difficult.” “Controlling.” “Perfectionist.” “Angry.” Those are some of the words that have been used to describe her.

Barbra tells the story of a “60 Minutes” interview with Mike Wallace in which he made her cry. He later apologized. Hating on Barbra was sport for journalists. She calls herself “the most lied about woman in the world.” She surmises that the men have been scared of her power, and some of the women have been jealous.

Misogyny has always run rampant in Hollywood, and Barbra talks plainly about how hard it was for her, as a woman, to direct, produce and get credit for not only her films but also her albums and TV specials. Only the strong, who share her vision for artistic perfection, survived.

Barbra defines herself as fiercely loyal. She was lucky enough to find managers, musical partners, mentors, friends and even staff who were equally supportive of her and they remained in her life to the end.

She does gets personal when talking about her marriage with Elliott Gould, their son, Jason Gould, and her past relationships with the likes of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Jon Peters, Don Johnson and tennis player Andre Agassi, to name a few.

Her stage fright is legendary and she explains that it started when her Broadway co-star Sidney Chaplin tormented her on stage for months after she ended an affair with him.

She is frank about the years of therapy spent to deal with stage fright and, of course, her mother. Her mother told her she wasn’t pretty enough to be an actress and that her voice was just OK. Worse, she would often fly off into a jealous rage when all eyes were on Barbra and keep repeating, “I am the mother. If anyone should be getting praise, it should be me. I am the mother.”

Barbra finally found love and the perfect partner in actor James Brolin. They have been married for 25 years and live a quiet life, mostly at home or out with friends and an ever-growing family. As Barbra explains, she wanted to be an actress — she didn’t want fame and never has been comfortable with it.

“People see me and sometimes go a little crazy and then I remember, ‘Oh right, I’m her,’” she laments.

So, if I run into her again, I promise I won’t pounce.

“My Name Is Barbra” by Barbra Streisand; Random House (992 pages, $47)

Barbra Streisand speaks onstage during the 91st annual Academy Awards in 2019 in Hollywood, Calif.

Tribune News Service file

“My Name Is Barbra,” by Barbra Streisand (Random House/TNS)

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