Judy Garland: Beyond the Rainbow

I didn't have a problem with this book; in fact, I enjoyed it. It was a little deflated because it was not filled with all the normal tripe you read about Judy Garland's personal life. It's not easy to syphon-off the personal from the professional in Judy's life. This book made that attempt, and I'm okay with it. Sometimes the lite-touch is sufficient. We don't need to know about how many times Judy dunked her head in a toilet. I think, if Judy had lived to talk about her days in rehab, or what have you, she would have preferred to be remembered as someone who gave her everything to the fans. And she would have told the tripe-writers to buzz-off. I think Judy would choose this book to represent herself, uh-huh! At the end of her life, she was fed-up with hype. I think this book offers a simple, uncomplicated profile of an extremely intense life in the eye of the public. By the end of her life, when she was putting in phone calls to President Kennedy for validation and approval, it must have occurred to her that the personal is political. She experienced this downfall with her TV show, and was somber. This collection is more focused on her long-time career, with excellent, clear photos, outlining the years of her performances, movies and concert projects. So from that angle, it could be anti-climatic. But I found it to be a light, entertaining read that left no heaviness. Something you could sit and drink your coffee with. It's a fun book for the serious collector.