Barbra Streisand to bring glitz to Book Expo

Publishing's trade conference Book Expo America announced Tuesday that Barbra Streisand will headline opening night, May 25, at the New York event. She won't be singing, though; she'll be talking about her upcoming book, "My Passion for Design," due out in November from Viking.

Streisand's design taste can be seen in Southern California at Ramirez Canyon Park in Malibu. The 25-acre property, was once owned by Streisand, includes a Craftsman home, the separate Deco House and a Mediterranean-style villa. (The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy offices are now in the main house).

Streisand talked about her evolving design sensibility with David Keeps in November. "I remember thinking, 'How could I ever have spent $45,000 for a Tiffany lamp?'" she said. "But you look at it, and that just cannot be duplicated today. God is in the details, to me."

She explained that she likes to design rooms around a specific object, like a lamp or, with a living room, a set of pillows. "Those must be some pillows," Keeps prompted. Streisand explained:

They are this beautiful shade of green. How do I describe it? There's no way to say. I love things that are indescribable, like the taste of an avocado or the smell of a gardenia. This green has the right amount of yellow, of gray, in it.

The book, Streisand told him, will focus on her current home, which was based on 1904 architecture. "It's a mill house and a farmhouse around a pond with a water wheel and vegetable gardens and a chicken coop," the star said, "so we can grow our own vegetables and have our own eggs."

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photo: Barbra Streisand at the 2010 Academy Awards. Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images