Building a Mystery: The Story of Sarah McLachlan & Lilith Fair [Paperback]

Judith Fitzgerald (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 231 pages
• Publisher: Quarry Pr (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550821903
• ISBN-13: 978-1550821901
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (169 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,619,582 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars How sad is this book?, November 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Building a Mystery: The Story of Sarah McLachlan & Lilith Fair (Paperback)

First of all, Judith Fitzgerald /didn't/ respect Sarah's privacy. She called around to all of Sarah's friends and family scrounging for information. Rather than letting Sarah live her life the way that Sarah sees fit, Fitzgerald had to dish up the only dirt that she could find, Sarah's adoption, and announce it to the world, regardless of whether Sarah had decided to share that. That's very personal and private, and should have been left to the people involved to tell. Instead, Fitzgerald behaves as though this is a major scoop, and disregards completely how the woman of whose career she is supposedly writing a "celebration" feels. Second, nearly every bit of Sarah's biographical data can be found on the internet. Fitzgerald used the internet to a great extent to do her research, as well as the source for 9 or 10 of the photograph/album covers in the book. Many of the articles quoted from can be found on the internet as well. One look at the back, and you can see how many articles that "Fitz" used for filler material when she ran out of anonymous sources. I've never heard that Fitzgerald was being harassed by anyone, and a true fan of Sarah McLachlan couldn't care enough. On the flip side of that coin, I have witnessed the author engaging in harassing others with extreme and unwarranted callousness. The saddest thing of all is that she uses any public forum to further her agendas. As for an update, I doubt think that there ever even was one. What more could possibly be added to this book? Could we be naieve enough to expect unbiased reporting, like we got the first time around? The chip on Fitzgerald's shoulder is so large you could see it from Jupiter. Is it possible that she could dislike Sarah's manager any more? Could we possibly expect there to be an update worthy of bearing Sarah McLachlan's name? Or would it just be more trite verbiage tacked onto the Lilith Fair chapter, slamming it even harder than the orignal? Or will we get more rambling absurdities about how Sarah McLachlan had her obsessed fan killed? All of that and more - enough to make you sick, of course. The person who truly deserves an apology for this lame duck is Sarah McLachlan - for having her name associated in any way with it, for being used by Fitzgerald to sell a substandard book that Fitzgerald has admitted that she didn't want to write, but was locked into the contract before she found out that she wouldn't be granted an interview. I, for one am not a "Sarahmaniac", nor will I ever be, since "Fitz" coined the term. I am a fan of Sarah McLachlan's music, and I don't care whether she's adopted, bisexual, or anything else. It's about the music. That's where Sarah McLachlan is coming from.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Utter Crap, August 16, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Building a Mystery: The Story of Sarah McLachlan & Lilith Fair (Paperback)

This book is the biggest piece of crap I've ever read - and I read a lot! How it ever got published is the real mystery! Don't waste your time on it.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Manifesto of bias, June 12, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Building a Mystery: The Story of Sarah McLachlan & Lilith Fair (Paperback)

As a owner of one of the internet's most well respected Sarah McLachlan websites as well as an expert in Sarah McLachlan Biography, I find this book insulting. Building a Mystery reads like a schizophrenic patient's transcript strife with vague references, endless garble, and little substance. Having read the book front to back, I found little about 'Sarah McLachlan' and mostly what seemed to be an ongoing, unguided defamation. Not only does the author refuse to latch onto a journalistic perspective with direction and commentry from the people who matter most to the heart of the person and concept of 'Sarah McLachlan', she becomes attached to the alleged stalker which took his like soon after a legal battle with Mclachlan. I could not identify with her perspective or logic and found the book uncomfortable to read. It is no wonder Sarah McLachlan's family and record company wanted nothing to do with the author or this book. I strongly recommend against wasting your money.