A book rises and falls on the strength of its characters. “Ladies who Punch” is a history of Barbara Walters’s “The View.” And so here are the characters you get: *Rosie O’Donnell. Raped by her father, neglected by her mother. Embroiled in a one-way pseudo-love-affair with Elisabeth Hasselbeck. (“She played sports in college. I’m sure she is secretly gay.”) Rosie: blithely laying out conspiracy theories on TV. Rosie: publicly outing Clay Aiken while masquerading as a defender of Clay Aiken. (Rosie is forever and always the star of this show. Dismissed and re-hired. Watched closely by Donald Trump: “She’ll be back.”) *Tina Fey: “Of course we spoofed THE VIEW on SNL. We needed to create roles for women. You’re telling me I’m tearing down women? I’m giving women a spotlight. Of course a man needed to play Star Jones because -- deep sigh -- we had zero black women on SNL.” *Whoopi Goldberg: She wins an Oscar for GHOST; things are going well. Then she speaks out against Dubyah: “...