My Judy Garland Life

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Reviews

‘What a self-deprecating, funny, moving, entertaining read it is … Can cynicism really be so simply out-argued? Can a book really be so analytical and high-kicking, so fragile and defiant at the same time? A…truly altruistic piece of modern thought, this wonderfully clever books gives its whole self, flings its arms out in a rainy street like a wonderful diva. Brava.’
Ali Smith
The Times ‘Required Reading’

‘Boyt’s obsession with Judy Garland is more than a memoir; it analysis celebrity, how it affects us and succeeds in making star crushes feel noble, not shameful. A funny and moving look at pop culture.’
ELLE ‘Read of the Month’

‘The desire to create something profound out of something seemingly superficial makes for an extremely strange but rather wonderful undertaking. The book defies definition. It has elements of biography, autobiography, self-help and fan letter; although it’s firmly non fiction, there are parts that read like a novel.  Above all, it is a bold experiment that sets out to map the boundaries of celebrity obsession, and somewhere along the way discovers what it means to be human… beautiful, heart-stopping writing’
Viv Groskop
The Observer

‘Boyt vividly explores her lifelong obsession with Judy Garland in this book - and it's a love as passionate as any grand affair.  Garland's ability to transform harship, agony and angst into a shining star of emotion hel aloft is at the heart of this book, and Boyt thankfully explores it with all the academic objectivity of a crazed fan.  It's a funny, insightful, moving memoir-of both Susie's and Jusy'd lives, the nature of hero worship, and rising up above life's dark hours with a smile on your face and a song on your lips.’
Easy Living

‘Utterly original and thoroughly enchanting’
Mick Brown
Literary Review

‘My Judy Garland Life was a breathtaking surge, documenting the author's lifelong worship of the actress. The prologue alone was packed with enough love and proof to carry most memoirs. Boyt is a curious individual - super-alert to suffering and grief, but a believer in the primacy of glamour, of putting on a good dress and a brave face, of keeping your blouse shipshape and your cocktail shaker crystal - and always being cautious for your poor heart, because she has ripped open hers and it's hurting enough for the rest of us. Yes, the show must go on. It did for Judy - and so it sure as hell must for us.’
Antonia Quirke
New Statesman, Books of the Year

‘An extraordinary book. Simultaneously an analysis and celebration of the writer’s lifelong obsession with Garland it is as risky, clever, moving and innovative a personal essay as you could wish read. Just glorious.’
Joseph O’Neill
Guardian Books of the Year

‘Role models can be difficult acts to follow: My Judy Garland Life by Susie Boyt (Virago, buy it here) is an outrageously entertaining memoir of hero-worship. It could have been even more difficult: the three-year-old Boyt could have opted for the Virgin Mary instead of a diva, but glamour was more seductive, and in later life her devotion to Garland proved unexpectedly positive. If you are possessed by an inner voice, it may as well be a great one.’ The Times, Books of the Year

‘A moving, powerful and unique memoir. 5 Stars’
Kathryn Hughes
Mail on Sunday

 ‘’Something at the heart of Judy Garland connects directly to something at the heart of me.’ What that something is, is what Boyt explores in this highly original, meditative blend of biography and memoir, along with thoughts on the nature of hero worship and encounters with those who know Garland.’ 
London Paper

‘Susie Boyt has crafted a unique book that is touching, uplifting, funny and heartfelt. Although legions of Judy Garland fans should devour this book hungrily, you don’t have to be a fan to savour it. Anyone who has adored someone from afar will find much to savour in this gem of a book.’
Attitude

‘You’d need the heart of a Tin Man not to feel moved.’
Paul Burston
Independent on Sunday

‘Part memoir, part biography, part astute cultural analysis and altogether charming, this is a magical look at the roles of hero and hero worshipper.’
Marie Claire

‘In this revealing book, Boyt interweaves her own story with the life of her heroine… The result is a memoir which strikes a nice balance between selflessness and utter obsession.’
Waterstone’s Books Quarterly

‘Blending biography and autobiography Susie Boyt reveals her own childhood celebrity obsession, Judy Garland, and proves hero worship is no bad thing.’
Glamour

‘It is clear that what might have started as a form of escape has become a triumphant way of attending to an essential self – making this book a joy to read.’
Lavina Greenlaw
Financial Times

‘A wonderful memoir on what it means to love music, celebrity and glamour – but in the most intellectual way. Delightful.’
Red

‘A magical memoir…a beautifully written book…captures the same tremulous quality that Judy Garland had.’
Jackie McGlone
Scotsman

‘The intimate, sequin-spangled pleasures of this account of a lifelong obsession with Judy Garland.’ 
Hermione Eyre
The Independent

‘To a large degree, her relationship with the archetypal Garland has been the catalyst for her growth, and this deeply personal, elegantly crafted memoir and tribute lovingly traces the journey they took together, in a way that is both touching and invigorating. It is a meditation on devotion itself, a considered reflection on the nature of fame and projection, on love and loss. It may be a beautiful conceit, but she writes with an impressive economy and a delicacy of touch; she bares her soul, but with discretion and grace.’
Irish Business Post

‘Part biography, part memoir, part musing on the way we live, with a dash of self-help thrown in, it is a love-letter to a star who is vitally linked with the magic of Susie's life.’
Irish Independent

‘more fantastical interludes than a Broadway musical…. This is a memoir inside a biography inside a novel inside a play inside a meditation on hero worship, loss and excess. The result is a veritable feast…serious and  searching’
Frances Wilson
Times Literary Supplement

‘In all its ardour and spontaneity, My Judy Garland Life is one of this year’s most original books. Mercifully we do not need to share Boyt’s adoration, or indeed to give a rap for Judy, living or dead, to enjoy its insights, hankerings and revelations. As a record of the sort of borrowed world few of its readers are likely to have entered with such wide-eyed intensity it appears uniquely memorable.’
Jonathan Keates
The Spectator