This is the most unreliable Judy biography I have read. The author is biased toward feeling sorry for her, which interferes with the facts at times. The level of detail is also disappointing, and other works on Judy's life are more comprehensive, like the one by Gerold Frank.

Abysmal. It's not the writing and certainly not the subject matter because I adore Judy. It's the wrong facts. There are wrong facts run amok that it became unreadable. The final straw was Tyrone Power running away with Judy to Mexico. I went in search of a better Judy biography that at least had the facts straight. I'm now reading Frank Gerold's book and within 100 pages, it's true and excellently written. And it's been endorsed by many Judy fans who want to see her life written truthfully. If [...]

This is the least sensational biography, and therefore the saddest, that I have ever read. I think the lack of titillating material is due to the fact that it was written in the 1970s, not long enough after Judy Garland died for all the ugly stories to come out. The author's compassion for her subject is impressive, and the book's facts are gut-wrenching and depressing to read, but I'm glad I read it. If Judy had been allowed to live a normal life, I think she would have been a wonderful person [...]

This book changed me when I was a senior in high school. It truly was one of the reasons I entered show biz for good. Judy's life is so fascinating and beautiful and tragic all at once. Ms. Edwards has triumphed in telling her story in this way. Everyone should read this book!

I was excited to win a copy of this book because I actually knew almost nothing about Judy Garland except that she was Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and struggled with drug addiction throughout her short life. This biography certainly explained her life and struggles in a way that makes you sympathize with Judy Garland. However, I thought that the book struggled from assuming that the reader is already very familiar with the subject matter, a lot of nonlinearity in writing that is confusing, and a [...]

Judy Garland is missed by one more person now.I've never been a true fan of Judy Garland, I enjoyed her voice and the movies I had seen but never was a devoted follower of her Hollywood career like I had those of some of her peers. I certainly never knew the tragic story behind that immense talent only recently becoming aware of the fact that she died at such a young age (47). This book tells the story of how she was used by so many people in her life, people who should have been looking out for [...]

I think I would have enjoyed this book more if the author wasn't so clearly biased toward "poor Judy". I even wondered if the author had been part of the "Judy Cult". There were facts and opinions that I learned from other sources that the author left out or got wrong (maybe the book was written before the facts came out), and the drama became repetitive.

What an amazing star and yet an infamous tragedy - bouncing from one person to the next who's main interest was not her health and emotional well being but the $$ she could bring to them.

I loved this book, and found it hard to put down.

Not sure how accurate this bio is, but I learned alot about this great star!

Recommendation: read this book if, and only ifyou are very fascinated with Judy Garland and want to read about every depressing detail of her life. Otherwise, go find her biography by another author, it might actually be betterAfter much consideration I have decided that I only halfway liked this book. It is deliciously fascinating to find out some of the more intimate details in a legends life. The first half of the book was filled with the most interesting stories of her young life and rise to [...]

Judy Garland by Anne Edwards was first published in 1975. This book didn’t start out for me too well. I found the first half of the book to be filled with unnecessary and trivial information. I did not care what Louis B. Mayer did that did not directly pertain to Judy Garland. Anne Edwards seemed to veer off topic quite a bit, and my interest started to wane. There were also some random comparisons, such as the one she made between Judy Garland and Mario Lanza. However, I do understand that at [...]

I have been very interested in reading about Judy Garland lately, and having never read a biography on her before, I got this book from the library. It was interesting enough although I felt like several incidences in Judy's life were kind of quickly run through and then it was on to the next topic, and I can barely remember now what was stated about those times in Judy's life. I am now reading Gerald Clarke's biography (which I know has its own criticisms), and one comparison I can make that ju [...]

This book covered the sad life of the amazing Judy Garland. I already knew about her early life and addiction to drugs, but I didn't know as much about the years after her MGM heyday. The abuses she endured in the name of making money for the studio were so sad. Her stage mother pushed her, the studio people pushed her and her husbands all pushed her to make money for them. I did not know about the Group V contract that she was tricked into signing. It is sad that she never found someone who rea [...]

Before reading this biography I read a smattering of reviews and was surprised at a consistent theme that the author was too forgiving of Garland. I don't see that. She calls Judy a naïve addict, gullible and usine self-abuse and attempted suicide as attention-getting schemes. This is hardly flattering. Garland is responsible for her actions as an adult, but what responsible does a child vaudevillian have for early habits of go- and no-go pills? Judy was obviously surrounded by sycophants and h [...]

This book didn’t start out for me too well. I found the first half of the book to be filled with unnecessary and trivial information, and very slow. It did pick-up, and I was in awe that Judy's addiction with pills started at the age of 14 when she was too heavy to be on the stage, so the director's told her to lose weight. She was addicted to all kind of pills, and drugs throughout her entire career. Judy's life is fascinating and beautiful and tragic all at once. Glad I stuck with the book a [...]

As a child I heard she died trying to call people like marilyn died. How different it all was. A sad existence for one so gifted. It saddened me to hear of her issues with drugs that the studio hooked her on. Her failed marriages looking for the person to just take care of her. Her children she seemed incapable I caring for because of drugs and probably mental illness. Her constant fight with weight as a star only to be rail thin and un healthy in the end. If you like Judy I recommend this book. [...]

I actually read this book originally years ago. It is not one of the better bio's of Judy Garland. My copy is now 38 years old and they re-released it this year. OMG the reprint is awful! There are 2 places in the book where previous pages are inserted. It actually goes from page 108 back to 97. Then 120 to 109. In the original it has these vivid black and white photos. In this reprint they are pale a fuzzy, like I had I printed them off my cheap computer scanner. If you decide to read this find [...]

Other than knowing that she starred in the Wizard of Oz, struggled with addiction and died fairly young, I new very little about Judy's life. At times this is a truly harrowing read and hard believe but even if only half of it is true she led a tough life. She was exploited literally from cradle to grave by everyone that any kind of involvement in her life. Gripping, sad and harrowing. You'll never listen to Over the Rainbow in the same way again after reading this.

It was hard to rate this book. For the first half of the book, it really held my interest, although I found it sad, dark and disturbing. The more I got into it, the less I liked it. The author seems to work hard to paint Judy as a victim, someone who was used and abused again and again by everyone who was closest to her. I found myself wondering just how accurate the details of this book are. I gave it 3 stars reluctantly. Probably deserves 2&1/2.

I enjoyed this book, I have read many books on Judy as I am a big fan and I enjoy the different perspective each brings to her life. As with everything, each of us brings a different lens to our experiences and this is the same with this book. In my opinion Anne Edwards was respectful of the difficulties in Judy's life and I appreciated this.

Well researched, but lets face it it wouldn't be too hard to glean enough information for a biography of someone like Garland. Tends to have a bias towards Judy the victim, rather than painting her as a complete individual with strength and determination too. It's a nice read despite the romantic notions of Judy the tragic figure.

I found this book on my grandmothers bookshelf nearly 20 yrs ago, while trying to balance going to college and caring for my ailing grandparents I scantly knew of Garland, and this book made me instantly a fan, and fascinated me by her seemingly tragic life. The first of many books on Garland, that came and be-came a memorable time in my life.

Fascinating and sad story of a magical and tragic star. The way the people in her life used her for their own profit and ego is beyond words.

really enjoyed the insight into her life

What a tragic life! After finishing this book, I also read some of Liza Minnelli' s bio, and did not realize Liza had been married to the son of the Tin Man. Strange, small world!

More sad than anything else.

One of my favorite people to read about.

A good introduction, but if you are looking for greater detail on Judy Garland's life, try Gerold Frank's 1975 biography, Judy.

ok not bad