Rating: 
Summary: The retrospective on Judy's career & lifestyle
Review: Predict "Shadows" will emerge on atleast one best seller list this Spring
Rating:
Summary: Starred Publishers Weekly review (3/16/98)
Review: "It's a funny thing about the past. If you don't watch out, it will become the present." In this candid and often moving autobiography, Luft demonstrates the truth of that observation as she recounts the tribulations of growing up as the child of a show-biz legend (and as the younger sibling of another famous performer, Liza Minnelli). The book's first half chronicles Luft's hectic, often traumatic childhood. By the time Luft was 10, Garland's marriage to Sid Luft was over and her addiction to prescription drugs has grown steadily worse. Here, as in the book's later sections, the author's matter-of-fact reportage ("At twelve years old, I would become my mother's keeper") makes the harrowing episodes all the more believable--and tragic. The book is no Mommy Dearest wannabe, however; Luft repeatedly talks about her abiding affection for her mother and takes pains to clear up commonly held "facts" about Garland's decline and fall. The book's second half covers the years after 1969, when drugs claimed Garland. Luft, then 16, had already embarked upon a performing career--a path that led her to replicate much of her mother's destructive behavior. It's to Luft's credit that, while she pulls no punches about Garland, she is equally frank about herself, her drug addiction (from which she is now free) and her problems with men. Though Luft's life has had its share of melodrama, her tale is far from bleak, as it's spiced up by many humorous asides and incidental dish--and its sales could go through the roof and over the rainbow. Photos. (Major ad/promo; Literary Guild, Doubleday Direct and Stage & Screen Book Club selection; film rights to ABC TV for a four-hour miniseries; author tour. Apr.) (Copyright Publishers Weekly)
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT
Review: A stunning and dramatic account of a turbulent life spent in the shadows of more famous sibling and parent. The section about the making of Grease 2 was the most interesting
Rating:
Summary: Starred Publishers Weekly review (3/16/98)
Review: "It's a funny thing about the past. If you don't watch out, it will become the present." In this candid and often moving autobiography, Luft demonstrates the truth of that observation as she recounts the tribulations of growing up as the child of a show-biz legend (and as the younger sibling of another famous performer, Liza Minnelli). The book's first half chronicles Luft's hectic, often traumatic childhood. By the time Luft was 10, Garland's marriage to Sid Luft was over and her addiction to prescription drugs has grown steadily worse. Here, as in the book's later sections, the author's matter-of-fact reportage ("At twelve years old, I would become my mother's keeper") makes the harrowing episodes all the more believable--and tragic. The book is no Mommy Dearest wannabe, however; Luft repeatedly talks about her abiding affection for her mother and takes pains to clear up commonly held "facts" about Garland's decline and fall. The book's second half covers the years after 1969, when drugs claimed Garland. Luft, then 16, had already embarked upon a performing career--a path that led her to replicate much of her mother's destructive behavior. It's to Luft's credit that, while she pulls no punches about Garland, she is equally frank about herself, her drug addiction (from which she is now free) and her problems with men. Though Luft's life has had its share of melodrama, her tale is far from bleak, as it's spiced up by many humorous asides and incidental dish--and its sales could go through the roof and over the rainbow. Photos. (Major ad/promo; Literary Guild, Doubleday Direct and Stage & Screen Book Club selection; film rights to ABC TV for a four-hour miniseries; author tour. Apr.) (Copyright Publishers Weekly)
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been better, but pretty good
Review: I hadn't known much about Lorna Luft, Judy Garland's "other daughter", until I read this book. I enjoyed it very much, and learned many things about Lorna, Judy Garland, and Liza Minelli. Yes, it's dishy, but I like that kind of stuff, like most people, so that didn't really bother me. And for those who were disappointed that there was more about Lorna than Judy, well, THE FIRST THREE CHAPTERS WERE NOTHING BUT JUDY, and the next five or six were about her life after Lorna was born. Besides, Lorna said that it would be her story in the introduction. I do wish, though, that she'd devoted more space to her father's life before her birth than just a few paragraphs. Still, she gave a good portrayal of him, apparently better than most others. And she gave a very loving portrayal of her mother, never a "Mommie Dearest"-type one. She is very candid, and tries to see both sides of the argument, which must have been hard for her to do. You have to wonder if she exaggerates in some sections, but I do believe that Liza has a drug problem, not only after reading this book but seeing her on TV recently. She looks so much like Judy in her last years, when the drugs had ruined her, that it's scary. I do hope that she and Sid Luft will reconcile their differences with Lorna before it's too late.
Rating: 
Summary: Just Sing, Lorna
Review: Judy Garland's "other daughter" Lorna Luft began her professional career with high hopes, a knockout body and a powerhouse voice. That was in the mid-70s. Skip to the late 90s and the parade passed her by. What to do? Join the parade of stars' offspring who never quite made it: Christina Crawford (Joan's brat), Maria Riva (Marlene Dietrich's daughter), B.D. Davis (Bette's ungrateful daughter) et al. Although Luft constantly points out that Judy was a loving mom and several reviews point out that this is no "Mommie Dearest" memoir, it is ironic that Lorna's tome closely resembles the harsh bio of Joan Crawford. The scary "night visits" to the kids' room, the tantrums, drunken rages, nagging and narcissism. There is also the tacit undertone that the raising of children was never the first thing on Garland's mind. Still, Lorna nudges us, Garland wasn't bad, just merely had problems.
Her worst problem, if you know much about Judy, was her penchant for marrying men who worked for her. Her first two husbands, David Rose and Vincente Minnelli, were famous in their own right. After that, Judy married three men with no talent or visible means of support other than being Judy's 24-hr. gofer. Sid Luft was the first of these. Lorna describes her father as a "producer" but the record speaks for itself. To date, Luft has produced two films- a cheapie for Monogram called "Kilroy was Here" and, of course, the wonderful Garland remake of "A Star is Born." Luft was, in fact, an opportunist who lived off of dancer Eleanor Powell, then actress Lynn Bari, and then Judy. One could arguably say that Luft has not earned one dime since 1951 that did not involve the marketing of Judy Garland, even after their divorce and her death. Craftily, Luft impregnated Judy to ensure their marriage. The result was Lorna. So while it is true that Sid Luft was capable of producing sperm, it is quite a stretch to refer to him as a producer. This is merely one fact that Lorna prefers not to address. The saddest issue that Lorna broaches is that her brother Joey was born mentally out-of-kilter because of the drugs her mother took during her pregnancy with him. Lorna
mentions Joey's troubled brain yet claims- presumably with a straight face- that Judy was not to blame because the role of the placenta was not known in 1955! (Lorna does admit that
she hated school and played a lot of hooky. Believe it!)
Much later, Lorna informs us, that a stoned Judy even tried to impale Joey with a knife, too zonked out on speed to recognize her own son. But, if we're still with Lorna, Judy really, REALLY tried her best. That is the schizophrenic nature of Luft's story, page after page. Drug addiction, boozing, screaming knife-throwing rages, totally selfish, irresponsible and over-the-top behavior that makes Courtney Love seem like Shirley Temple... oh, but aside from that, life with Judy was just dandy. So... is Lorna's book to be believed? The question is: does Lorna even believe what she tells us?
Rating: 
Summary: Well, Lorna...........
Review: Oh my. As a long-standing Garland fan, far be it from me to knock one of her kids. But this reads like fantasy! Tremendous chunks have been left out of this book, and Lorna reminds me, sometimes, of B.D. Hyman: the perfect daughter who held it all together and blames everyone else. Yeah, Lorna whines a lot, and yes there is "name dropping", but on the whole, the book is flat. What I would like to know is why Judy Garland, the most celebrated entertainer of the 20th century, died broke. It doesn't make any sense to me at all. Didn't Lorna ever ask her father (the strongest man in the world, according to her), "Daddy, what happened to all of Mommy's money??????" No biographer has yet to uncover this mystery. Where did all her money go? Films and TV and radio and smash-success concerts and record albums....... where did all the money go????? And why doesn't Lorna discuss her "Great Performances" program, or the restored version of "A Star Is Born" (she was there at Radio City; has the pictures to prove it). You'd think that these would be milestones in the rememberance of her mother. And as for her career, which, supposedly she has, why can't I find a "Lorna Luft Live" album, or her "Songs My Mother Taught Me" album? As for her stay at Betty Ford, well, she makes it seem like she had brief visitation rights. Liza gets slammed in this tome (unfairly, too). But hey, what's a sister for? Yes, its readable, but I certainly couldn't call it the whole story.
Rating:
Summary: a good book
Review: I think Lorna Luft has written a very good biography on her mother Judy Garland, without being to tell-all or cruel. I think it's a pretty good book and to tell her story through her own eyes. The only part I didn't agree with is towards the end when she starts bashing Liza. Otherall its a very good book, very poignant and honest. I think Ms. Luft has a lot of courage to write from her heart and tell how it really was to live with her mother Judy Garland and also tells of how her Moms true and dedicated love of her children. Though it is a biogrpahy of Judy Garland it is more a biography on Lorna Luft. It's worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: A must read
Review: I saw the TV movie this book was based on, and it made me go buy the book. The book starts as a biography of Judy Garland and ends as an autobiography of Lorna Luft. The book seems to present a fair, matter of fact portrayal of Judy Garland's life. It holds your interest from beginning to end. A must read for all Judy and Hollywood fans alike. I also highly recommend the Tv movie on VHS or DVD.
Rating:
Summary: I Now Know What's Over The Rainbow
Review: Lorna Luft had the real potential to take her private life and turn it into another "Mommie Dearest". But as you read the book, you come to realize quite fast that it is a "Mommy Dearest" in the truest and literal sense of the words. If anything, she explains what, up until now, have been question marks as to "why" and "how". There is no doubt she loves her mother, her father, her sister and her brother very much. While her story may begin with the childhood of Frances Gumm, it certainly doesn't end at her funeral. This is a rare, honest, and raw glimpse into the world of society's attitudes toward drugs and alcohol spent upon the public stage. But it was told from her vantage point...the view of a child with the forced wisdom of an adult thrust upon her at an early age.The fact that these children survived is a testament to themselves and the love they received from their parents. And if the end of the book doesn't give you hope, then you better re-read it with a little attitude adjustment.
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