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Rainbow: The stormy life of Judy Garland

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With appropriate candor and reserve, Christopher Finch not only presents Judy's life and work, but examines every piece of information he receives with level-headedness and occasional suspicion. This is no sugar-sweet fanletter to Judy, this is an almost scholarly approach to her extraordinary life. Especially fine insight is given to her earlier years and childhood surroundings, allowing the reader a glimpse into what may have possibly impacted Judy's psyche later on in her life.

Judy Garland, born Frances Ethel Gumm, lived an incredible life, her career spanning every field of show business from film to radio to live performance. Name any award of performing arts, and she's won it: Oscar, Grammy, Tony, Golden Globe...the list goes on. In her short 47 years, she managed to attain the status of "living legend", and still continues to delight generation after generation in her enduring film and record work. However, her life was not the fairy tale story of a show business princess. It was filled with tragedy, hardship, and soaring joys. She had basically no childhood, most likely addicted to pills at the tender age of 15 due to her exhausting work schedule, was forced to abort her first child, and was always belittled and made to believe she was not beautiful. How amazing is it that a person subjected to such sorrows could bring joy to millions and millions of people? And even at the tragic end, she retained a fabulous sense of humor and derring-do for life. In my opinion, one of the century's three best singers (along with Edith Piaf and Sinatra). She could sing the lyrics of a page and make you believe every word of it.

(wow, I've wandered off-topic, back to the book now)

In conclusion, a light and quick read, Finch's meticulously researched biography is excellent for the straight facts of Judy's life and career with an occasional aside from the author. Highly recommended for any budding Garland fan (or anyone in general).

It is a shame that this book is currently out of print, for it is to my mind the only completely satisfying biography of entertainer Judy Garland available. Finch not only writes about Garland's life in well researched, eloquent prose, his work also provides a broad overview of the world and times in which Garland both worked and lived, with considerable reference to those who shaped her personality and her art, and who contributed to both public and private successes and failings. Truly a masterpiece of the biography genre, drenched with seldom-seen photographs as well.

This is doubtless one of the greatest books ever written on the legendary Judy Garland! When you read this book you KNOW how much work has been put into it. So many wonderful insights from Mr. Finch. It's not one of those Judy-does-no-wrong books where the author simply trusts her word. Here, Mr.Finch question what she said and analyses it. Like what she says about her mother being an evil stage mom watching her from the wings. He has done lots of research to prove what he has written. Many articles from local papers following the activities of the Gumm Sisters. Judy sister Virginia says alot in this book aswell. And lots of great pictures too! I couldn't put it down, it's wonderful. Greatly entertaining. I hear this book is pretty hard to find, so good luck. It's definetly worth the search.

The Stormy Life Of Judy Garland by Christopher Finch is quite a page turner! The book is well written--in fact, this book is so well written that you just can't put it down. Finch manages to pull his readers into the story of Judy Garland's life with power and skill. Even those of us who are not diehard Garland fans will want to read this book from front to back practically without stopping.

The book is filled with facts, anecdotes, stories from Judy's contemporaries, and great and black and white photos of Judy. We also get numerous photos of Judy with her immediate family members. The photos of Judy onstage both during her years at MGM and during her concert years are stupendous.

One thing that a diehard Garland fan may not care for is that this book does not try to water down or whitewash Garland's personal and professional problems. Although great care is taken to tell vividly of her countless triumphs, there is equal care given to her failures and her human idiosyncrasies.

However, after all is said and done, you still come away with the impression that Judy Garland was truly a wonderfully talented living legend; I would have loved to see her perform in public based on what I read in Finch's book. Finch does love Judy Garland; but he tries to be as honest as he knows how to tell the whole story--good, not so good, and in-between.

This book may be out of print but do not make the mistake of thinking that this means the book is devoid of insight. Finch writes with remarkably good insight into what made Judy Garland a huge success as well as what brought her down on certain occasions. Judy Garland fans would do well to get this book and read this fascinating account of the life and times of the immortal Judy Garland.

This book was first published in the early -70's right after Judy's death. I was 14 years old when I picked it up. And yes, it was a little too raw for me at the time. There was something dark in the feel of the book, something I couldn't allow myself to look into until 30 years later, at the age of 44. Then, I felt I was ready. Christopher Finch is not just writing about Judy, he's writing about an era of performance when you consider Judy made albums through the 1930's, '40's, '50's and '60's.

He paints a vivid picture of her family background, the tension between Judy's parents and her slow-build to overnight fame. With that comes a descriptive view of the relationship Judy had with her mother, and you find that the girl was never nurtured, but found ways to nurture herself through food. Because Judy was pushed around like a dumb animal until it was time to sing, she overcompensated by sneaking around. And thus, she fell into the trap that lying establishes. (Judy had a large following of gay male fans, who had some emotional identity with her repression and neediness. This becomes a pattern in her relationships with men, throughout her life.) For although her tendency to lie and sneak allowed her some privacy, it became a form of mania and self-destructiveness that was, for the most part, covert. It was very convenient for all those around her! Judy learned to keep herself in-check at an early age, never doing anything that might threaten someone else's comfort level (it would be bad publicity). Of course, as Mark Twain used to say "you can't pray a lie."

Polarized throughout her 20's, Judy kept operating under the belief that someone, preferably a man, would reach out and save her from herself. She was attracted to men she felt safe with, many whom were gay or bisexual. That's how it had always worked out for her mother... A man would always be there on the basis of need. This book offers a great collection of photos and an absorbing, educational read. You can glean much about the trends at MGM, the Mickey and Judy days, and what it was that made America so much "fun" during war time. This book gives some clues as to the relationship Louis B. Mayer had with the government, you see, because he was rich. Judy operated under that weight as well, and became the archetypal Hollywood gal-pal. Her ability to try different approaches to dramatic film, her overlooked comedic timing, her relationship with her own children and her concert tours are all adequately covered in such a way that makes this great reading. Again, Finch was writing at the time when the term bipolar was not known or used. He could not give that aspect of Judy's condition the justice that's needed. What he does do is describe the trends in her family history, and with the suicides of her two sisters who were also "performers". On that note, he braves new frontiers most writers would not attempt at the time. I believe he touches a little on the riot at Stonewall, and it's connection to Judy's funeral. Contrasting photos to how she looked in her final days, to the beginning days in Vaudville. I feel women should read this book, just to think about how far we have come. Judy was old enough to be my grandmother, and my grandmothers emulated and loved her. My mother rocked us to all Judy's songs. I have two large 10 X 12 editions of this book, and have handed out several of the smaller copies to friends.

Christopher Finch's 'Rainbow' has a lot in common with Gerold Frank's 'Judy.' Both came out the same year, both were considered definitive accounts and both have dated badly.

It starts out promising though. Finch's insight into Judy's time in Grand Rapids, Minnesota and later at MGM are resourceful. It provides us with great knowledge of the environment that Judy lived in, but that's all it does.

Finch (like Frank) attempts to tell Judy's story in the same psychological way that was good in the 1970s, but makes the book look old fashioned now. The book is too short to be considered a real biography, the author rushes through Judy's last fifteen years. There is a little mean spirited angle in the book as well, as Finch appears to accept all criticisms of Judy as valid.

Judy's mother, Ethel Gumm comes off in a greater light, as he attempt to dispel those stories of the stage mother. Finch has admitted in recent years that his portrayal of Ethel was too one sided and not objective.

My thoughts on Judy's elder sister, Virginia (Jimmie) Gumm has gone down a bit. I never really gave her much though, til I read her 1964 interview. That interview gave me a creepy feeling of resentment and jealously. In this book, it is Virginia's opinion that Judy made up stories about Frank Gumm's homosexuality. What a cruel and thoughtless remark. Stories of Frank's homosexuality were well known in Grand Rapids, does Virginia really think that Judy was behind those rumors.

I feel too that Virginia's defense of their mother was due in part of an attempt to make excuses for what their mother did. Virginia never became a star like Judy did, so how could she know what really went on?

In short, this is another book I would recommend, but not as a definitive look at Judy's life. It's the kind of book that I pull from the shelf every now and again to look up a minor fact or quote. I can take solace though in the fact that it was not a sensationalized book like a lot of others.

As other readers have stated, this is the very best of all of the biographies of Judy Garland. The others do not come close, from Gerald Clarke's vulgar and superficial "Get Happy" to Gerald Frank's overwritten "Judy." All of John Fricke's books are in a class by themselves and I don't include them in this catagory. Reading the Finch book you will feel the surges of energy and pleasure you would feel at a Garland concert or watching "The Man that Got Away" in "A Star Is Born." It is beautfully written, graphically superb with a whole range of wonderful photos and you come away from it with a real grasp of the life and talent of this enduring star whose greatness will never be equaled.

Not much of a review, but just a reflection here that I came upon this link on this Saturday night and was glad to see that interest and recall in "Rainbow" is still out there. I bought this book in paperback in 1975 -- I think for about $3.95 -- so it's interesting to see "collector" editions on sale out there for upwards of $50 now! Such are things.. But anyway, my old copy needed to get dumped after a few decades -- the pages just came apart from my constant re-reading and browsing.

It was a great book. As alluded by previous posters, Mr. Finch tackles the subject with obvious interest, admiration, respect and affection. In his approach, I think he nicely underlines and represents what summed up Judy -- a sensitivity, a perceptiveness, a sincerity of opinions and statements worn on the sleeve as well as in the heart. For its time, this book even in paperback was unbelievable for the already mentioned droves of sometimes seldomly anymore seen photographs from Judy's life, publicity stills, movies, rehearsals, and the rest -- not kept to certain sections or mid-book, but scattered through almost every other page.

I agree that the book contains what at that time seemed to be a lot of lingering legends from the Garland mythology -- but it's packed with details and Mr. Finch gives accounts of Judy's life, actions and accomplishments served with a sort of psychological reflection on them that makes his book go the extra mile that some documentaries, tabloid approaches, and other tell-alls out there on Judy ever fail to succeed at.

Truly, this book is a labor of love. I would like to take the time to thank Mr. Finch for his hard work in researching and putting together this wonderful book. A collector's item, to be sure. I cherish my copy, as they are almost impossible to find, these days. Thank you again, Mr. Finch.

After reading the glowing reviews of the 4 other people here, I could not wait to get hold of this book.

Well......the photos are terrific. But there is something very mean-spirited and melodramatic about the way the author presents Judy Garland's life. I can't quite put my finger on it.......you'll have to read it yourself to get a feel for his attitude. I'm really in the minority in my opinion on this one, but I felt I should balance the opinions of a great percentage of readers who consider this the best biography of Judy Garland. I get the feeling the author did not really like his subject. He treats her like some kind of bizarre creature. If she was difficult, to a certain extent, her demanding life and out-size talent made her so. Read it yourself, and make your own decision, however!