Now, I have loved Judy scince I was two. Gerald Clark's book is nothing but a tabloid make money biography! Now, don't get me wrong,there are 1 or2 good stories but 99.9 percent of them are pure fiction! if you want to read a good Judy book, read Lorna's book!!!

The reviewers who believe that this is an accurate portrait of Judy Garland are pathetically misinformed. To begin with nearly 85% of this book - if not more - is based entirely unpon speculation and conjecture, from both the author and his sources. The number of unnamed, unsubstantiated and uncorraborated sources is astounding, but then again, you couldn't write the type of salacious, tabloid "Confidential magazine-like story that Clarke has using named, credible and reputable sources.

As for the tapes and the so called autobiography; do your research admirers of Clarke's tome. The so-called autobiography is only an 80 page outline of notes which Judy never edited or reviewed. The so-called most scandalous details were revealed and worked though by others only AFTER she died. All of the other stuff in the notes were previously published in McCall's magazine during the 1960's.

Sorry, but Judy never spoke about the most "deliciously scandalous" items printed in this and other books. The person said they were Judy's words, but could never show any proof. Those tapes....listen to them for yourself. They say nothing of the stories told here. That's the way it is throughout the book. Just read his sources, one after another anonymous source.

Do yourself a favor and read World's Greatest Entertainer, Judy Garland The Golden Years and Judy Portrait of a Legend or even Judy by Frank and Rainbow by Finch.

This book is what made me a Judy fan, where before I had only been a Judy admirer from afar. I read this book without having read any reviews or knowing anything about the controversy surrounding it. I found Mr Clarke's treatment of Judy candid and sympathetic, but not sentimental or rose-colored - which is what I have a feeling Judy fans didn't like about it. In spite of the sordid details, and as the trajectory of her life story spiraled downward, I found myself liking Judy the Person more and more - flaws and all. I appreciated the quotes Clarke used from Judy herself to describe her life - they show how refreshingly honest and humble she was, especially toward the end. I did not appreciate his long-winded, professorial essays about various side subjects and the sex-obssessed leaning of the book. I did not appreciate the $10 words he uses that leave you running to a dictionary to figure out what he means. I ended it feeling that I wanted to know a little more about the making of her films than just start and end dates and a little less about the sex. Where the book excels is at the beginning, where Clarke really did his research into Judy's parental history, unhappy aspects of her early life, her father's pederasty and her "love affair" with her Dad. It explains much about her subsequent histrionic behavior and constant striving for normalcy, especially in the romance and marriage departments. Controversial or not, trashy or not, I still recommend the book. If you can't love her, or at least sympathize with her, by the end of this book, you're probably not a true fan.

Somewhere over the rainbow, Judy Garland ain't very happy. That's because her entire life---and we mean her entire life---has been laid out, in minute detail, in Gerald Clarke's latest biography. We all already know about the evil stage mother, the gay father, the hospitalizations, the pill popping, the marriages to gay husbands, the abortions, the mean managers.. Here we learn about Judy's lesbian affairs and about the one (unnamed, of course) male lover who made her she sing "Over the Rainbow" after giving him oral satisfaction. Yikes! Still, even though Judy has been the subject of too many books already, Clarke manages to write with candor and clarity, thanks to interviews with sources who kept mum before, as well as the benefit of an autobiography Garland herself had started, but never finished. Wonder if Liza still thinks life is a cabaret after this one.

Clarke's book, though sometimes turning towards the tabloid journalism route, has much to say, and there's a lot of things that will jar some Garland admirers. On the whole, however, the book is riveting, and gives quite a bit of insight into her early years, which explained much of her erratic behavior later in life. Once started, it was hard to put down.