Get Happy is the best of all Judy Garland biographies because it does not read like a biography. Most biographies give you a lot of information about their subjects but don't really create much of an emotional connection to them. When you reach the end of a novel on the other you care deeply about the characters and feel as close to them as you do to yourself. In this way, this book reads more like a novel than a biography, though it is 100% accurate. You don't feel like you just learned new facts about Judy Garland, you feel as if you know her personally. For the length of time it takes for you to read this book, you get to walk in Judy's shoes and see the world through her eyes. You feel the pain and tragedy of much of her life but also get to appreciate and enjoy those fleeting moments of joy. This book never eschews Judy's many flaws, but it offers a very sympathetic and understanding view of who she was in spite of (and sometimes because of) these flaws. As such this book reads like a great literary tragedy and there are moments when it is hard to keep a dry eye while reading.
As well as a great portrait of Judy herself this book also paints very vivid imagery of the times and places, Judy lived in. This is true whether the book is discussing MGM during the height of the studio system, Judy's childhood home or the various venues Judy performed on. You can clearly picture these places and times in your mind as clear as if you were watching a movie. Again, this is a quality that is rarely experiences in biographies.
I also love the critical look Gerald Clarke takes at Judy's work as an artist. It is not afraid to find flaws with some of her work but at the same time it admits that when Judy is at her best, she is one of the greatest entertainers to ever live.
This is a quintessential showbiz biography.
I still consider the 1975 Gerold Frank book the definitive Judy Garland biography because it has the most input from people who actually knew her. Of course the comeback to that is that there may be less objectivity from people who may not want certain details of the subject's life known. And to be fair, new information regarding the subject has a way of appearing long after the fact that may supersede or even contradict earlier reports. Still, there's a tendency for later biographies to use the earlier ones as reference anyway, so why not go straight to the source? Perhaps the best answer is that a complex personality like Judy Garland can't really be captured in one single book.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your input. I do agree that though there are some great Judy Garland books, a book could never fully capture her.
Delete