An irresistible mixture of memoir, biography, cultural analysis, hero worship, and sequinstudded self-help that will speak to anyone who's ever nursed an obsession. Judy Garland has been an important figure in Susie Boyt's life since she was three years old: comforting, inspiring, and at times disturbing her. In this unique book, Boyt travels deep into the underworld of hero worship, examining our understanding of rescue, consolation, love, grief, and fame through the prism of Judy. Her journey takes in a duetting breakfast with Mickey Rooney, a munchkin luncheon, a latenight spree at the Minnesota Judy Garland Museum, and a breathless, semi-sacred encounter with Liza Minnelli. Layering key episodes from Garland's life with defining moments from her own, Boyt explores with insight and humor what it means, exactly, to adore someone you don't know. Does hero worship have to be a pursuit that's low in status or can it be performed with pride and style? Are there similarities that lie at the heart of all fandom? Chronicling her obsession, Boyt illuminates her own life and perfectly distills why Judy Garland is such a legend. By definition, the memoir is a self-indulgent genre, as the author spins memories as remembered, perhaps not accurately, and definitely one-sided. Boyt’s exhaustive and exhausting memoir of her lifelong obsession with Judy Garland is marked with passages of beautiful writing and occasional spotlights of self-awareness. However, readers will be drawn to this train wreck of a painful, exasperating, yet utterly compelling life story of a woman wholly enamored of one of Hollywood’s greatest celebrities. Since her first viewing of The Wizard of Oz, Boyt has never let go of her single-minded obsession with Judy Garland, who died before Boyt was born. Boyt compulsively chases down every snippet of gossip, mundane details, and loose connections regarding Garland and relentlessly tweaks them to fit into her own life. Readers will ponder if the author is to be admired for never giving up her passion or scorned for refusing to see the truth. For readers who have ever wondered what a fantasy world would look like in print, look no further than this author’s backyard. --Stover Kaite Mediatore “I couldn't put down Susie Boyt's quirkily brilliant My Judy Garland Life ...Boyt reaches winsome, deeply honest conclusions about the nature of celebrity worship and her own need for love. Best of all, Boyt keeps a sense of humor about the sheer madness of the whole project that is contagious and ultimately uplifting – not unlike the trouper spirit of Ms. Garland herself.” ― O magazine “By turns clever, hilariously ironical and sweetly earnest, English novelist Boyt's paean to the legendary singer and actress elevates hero worship to the role of self improvement…. Boyt's hagiography proves poetic and endearing.” ― Publishers Weekly “[ My Judy Garland Life ] is an unusual mixture of appreciation, biography and autobiography, but its most fascinating aspect, is, paradoxically, not the shimmer of the star, but the portrait that emerges, via a tantalizing trail of revelations, of the author herself... unfailingly funny and perceptive... [a] thoroughly delightful book.” ― Salon “No doubt about it, the engaging My Judy Garland Life promises to be one of the most unusual, and truly inventive, books you'll read this year... You don't need to be a fan of Judy Garland to enjoy this book.” ― Buffalo News, Book Club selection “Boyt has written an effusive exegesis of her own obsession, offering a fresh take on fandom and fantasy, longing and humiliation, loss and joy, and quite simply feeling... the author is funny and self-aware throughout, and anyone who has ever fallen sway to a book or a movie, combed through liner notes, listened to a song on repeat or succumbed to an all-consuming passion for that which cannot be consumed, will certainly appreciate Boyt's examination and celebration of her own fervor.” ― Newsday “I'm blown away…it's truly, madly, deeply brilliant.” ― Joseph O'Neill, author of Netherland “Never mind that Ms. Garland died when Ms. Boyt was 5 months old. In My Judy Garland Life Ms. Boyt constructs a fan's-eye friendship between the two of them and actually makes it work... [A] wildly bizarre but wonderfully disarming hybrid of memoir, biography and mash note... My Judy Garland Life runs on whimsy that is utterly idiosyncratic. It's also fueled by a comic, poignant desperation...” ― Janet Maslin, New York Times “A wonderfully engaging and inspiring book about love, loss, consolation, folly, and cakes.” ― Amanda Foreman, author of The Duchess “A cross between a fan's notes and a heartfelt story of a lonely British girl who found more love and inspiration in one movie star than in anyone closer to home.” ― Sara Nelson, Daily Beast “Beautiful, moving, and unique…blends autobiography with biography to create something magical, poetic, and truly original. As we follow the intertwini