My Judy Garland Life by Susie Boyt

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Is this a book about Judy Garland? Well, yes, in a way — but it's also a very subtle, beguiling and uplifting memoir. Susie Boyt sees herself in the mirror of Judy Garland, and she sees Judy Garland in the mirror of herself. She makes you see how other people are, in a way, our own inventions. But what an invention Judy Garland is! One of the best entertainers who ever performed (Boyt says she's THE best) — but also complex, demanding and elusive. Boyt meets Liza Minnelli and swoons over her cigarette butts — wonderful. Then she duets with Mickey Rooney.

Synopsis by Foyles.co.uk

Fascinating and extraordinary, thrilling and poignant, My Judy Garland Life will speak to anyone who has ever nursed an obsession or held a candle to a star. Judy Garland has been an important figure in Susie Boyt's life since she was three years old, comforting, inspiring and at times disturbing her. In this unique book, Boyt travels deep into the underworld of hero worship, reviewing through the prism of Judy our understanding of rescue, consolation, love, grief and fame. What does it mean to adore someone you don't know? What is the proper husbandry of a twenty-first century obsession? Boyt's journey takes in a duetting breakfast with Mickey Rooney, a Munchkin luncheon, tea with the largest collector of Garlandia, an illicit late-night spree at the Minnesota Judy Garland Museum and a breathless, semi-sacred encounter with Miss Liza Minnelli ...