American Legends: The Life of Judy Garland

By: Charles River Editors

Narrated by: Patricia Hoeksema

Length: 1 hr and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

"I was born at the age of 12 on a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lot." - Judy Garland

A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' American Legends series, listeners can get caught up to speed on the lives of America's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known.

In many ways, Judy Garland's rise to fame seems almost predestined. Not only was she a national sensation at a young age, but her parents and sisters were all vaudeville entertainers. On top of that, Garland's parents owned and operated a movie theater, making it all the easier to draw the conclusion that singing and acting were simply professions which she was born into by virtue of her pedigree. Judy's early childhood quickly demonstrated that she had a gifted voice that developed well beyond its years and seemingly did not require any formal training in order to achieve success; her first performance before a public audience came when she was still a toddler, and she would continue to act up until her death, never pausing for more than a few months at a time.

That Garland was able to secure starring roles almost immediately after signing a contract with MGM in 1935 only corroborates the belief that Garland was practically born with the ability to succeed in show business and the motion picture industry.

©2013 Charles River Editors (P)2015 Beacon Audiobooks

This book was great I loved hearing about Judy Garlands life it’s to bad she was addicted to drugs

I really liked this book the only complaint is that it was too short I really liked this book though

Not what you would expect.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Such an interesting, biography. If you think fame and money, would resolve all of your problems, admit it, most of us do. Think again, what a tough life, Judy lived. Personally, it made me appreciate, what a good life I have.

What did you like best about this story?

It showed that no matter, who you are, you reap what you sow. We all have to pay for bad decisions, no matter who we are. The truth is, all gifted geniuses, need lots of love and support. Many people don't realize, this. Let's give more love and support to our stars, to try and prevent these suicides. The reading was dramatic and well done, kept your interest.

Have you listened to any of Patricia Hoeksema’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was the first, but I will be looking for more.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

We need our childhood, even if we are gifted.

Any additional comments?

Soothing and entertaining voice over.

Where did they find this amateur reader?

The content of the book is fine, but the reader is terrible! She doesn't know how to pronounce ordinary words (pronounces Santa Barbara "Bar-BEAR-uh... really?), makes mistakes that aren't corrected or edited, and her tone changes at points where they've clearly spliced sessions. These poor production values make it impossible to stay with the story and I had to turn it off.

Just OK

I was alright. whoever was the narrirator was awful. I wanted to like it but the constant mispronounced words ruined it.

Don’t bother!

The story is moderately interesting, but the performance is abysmal! The reader has an incredibly flat affect and mispronounces a word, on average, once every 5 minutes. It became so irritating, that it detracted from the storyline.

This isn’t the most comprehensive biography of the great entertainer, but if you are interested in the book, do yourself a favor and read it!