Judy Garland: The Other Side of the Rainbow [Hardcover]

A book subtitled "The Other Side of The Rainbow", changed from "The Woman Behind the Myth", raises certain expectations. One of those expectations being that it will cut through the hyperbole of Garland's legend,and the murkiness of time passed, to focus in on its subject. Not only does this book fail to show another side of Garland than the one we've already seen, but it relies on murky and unchecked sources, which only adds to the legend.

Freedland derides other Garland biographies as citing mostly celebrities as sources and claims to focus on the nameless folks who saw her life up-close, but he lists as many stars in his acknowledgements as any other biography out there and he doesn't use his less famous eyewitnesses recollections at all well, nd they add little to the book. As for the accuracy of the memories, Freedland openly admits that "it's easy for memories to go into exaggeration mode", adding that "No jury would convict based on the basis of some of these stories...but I am content to publish them." So basically, you have unchecked, vague exaggerated stories that you can't trust.

Aside from that, where Freedland has done little research and has no new facts to offer, he will instead assault you with loads of trivia and tidbits about the things surrounding Judy rather than Judy herself (this is especially true of her pre-MGM life) or he'll gloss over the event entirely. He gives one paragraph to the devastating early death of Garland's father and devotes twenty plus pages to a fiasco of a planned concert engagement in her later life(the account of which is fascinating I'll admit, but not what I'd call trustworthy or in perspective). Plus the prose is full of terrible wordplay and cringe worthy puns. Writing of a brief name change of Judy's performing trio from the Gumm Sisters to the Gumm Drops, he states "there were no thoughts at that moment of the Gumm Drops failing to stick together, even though the name was soon chewed over and abandoned". Fer reals?

If you are new to the subject of Garland and want to learn more, there are definitely more readable bios out there. "Get Happy", while kind of trashy, at least tells a comprehendable story, is well researched, and has new light to shed. The nearly 700 page "Judy" by Gerold Frank gives you mountains of information provided by close friends and neighbors and though it's blatantly biased in favor of some of them due to their involvement in the project, it does give the "close and in person" feeling this project would like to have. Of course, the best books out there are written by John Fricke and Coyne Steven Sanders, which don't overlook Garland's personal struggles, but put the focus on Garland's unique contributions to the stage, film, and recordings.

I have a problem with any author not checking all the facts before publication. This book might get by new Judy fans but not the seasoned vets.
Firstly, Judy's largest crowd was not 20,000 as the Blue Grass Festival as stated, it was in August 1967 at the Boston Commons 108,00. Secondly, In "Words and Music" she appeared on screen twice and sang two songs. I got the impression that this was rushed through to beat the April release date.
It is obvious to me that Mr. Freedland took his tips on writing this book from the late Mel Torme who also wrote a book about Judy with many glaring errors - even got the date of her death incorrect. Save your money - don't buy this book.

› Go to Amazon.com to see both reviews  1.5 out of 5 stars