Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir

by Lorna Luft

Book Overview

The question follows Lorna Luft to this day: "What's it like to be Dorothy's daughter?" Although by appearances glamorous and truly thrilling, growing up as the daughter of Judy Garland was anything... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 067101899X
• ISBN13: 9780671018993
• Release Date: May 1998
• Publisher: Pocket Books
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Brilliant

I loved this book. Although i wasn't really a fan of Judy Garland's (i had only ever seen her in The Wizard of Oz), i was by the time i finished this book. This book is beautifully written, and i thought the mini-series was fantastic. Lorna writes honestly, covering both the good and bad points of Judy's -as well as her own- life. It is particularly sad at times, but there are some happy, joyful memories that Lorna has of her mom. As Lorna once said, 'I didn't know her as a legend, I didn't know her as an icon, all i knew her as was my mother', a mother who loved her children fiercely, even in her final years of addiction. There is no doubt that Judy Garland was a brilliant and gifted performer - and if she had not had the tradgies of being co-dependent on her pills, or if addiction had been more understood - she would still be alive today, instead of being alive only in the memories of her loved ones.

Very Interesting Life

The book starts off with the story of Lorna Luft's grandparents (Judy's parents) Frank and Ethel Gumm and tells the story about how they met and the family they raised. The book then goes into the story of Lorna's mother Judy Garland growing up baby Frances Ethel Gumm. Lorna tells how her mother loved to perform and loved living in Grand Rapids, Minnesota (were she was born) and hated living in Lancaster, California where they moved when Judy was 4. Lorna then goes into the story of the MGM years of Judy's life going from a radio singer to the star of The Wizard of OZ, one of the greatest hits of MGM's history all in the space of a year. After that, it was all pretty much down hill as far as MGM goes for Judy according to Lorna. Judy started on drugs to help her lose weight and help her sleep, and they soon controlled her life. Lorna tells that when Judy was 18 she got married to David Rose and after only a short period of time divorced him. She did this to get out of Ethel's hair because she could not stand being near her after the death of Frank, and Ethel's marrying a man exactly four years to the day after her father's death. Lorna then goes into the sorted affair that was Judy's marriage to Vincent Minnelli and the birth of their daughter Liza. After only a few years though they divorced and Lorna goes on to talk about the next man in Judy's life, Lorna's father Sid Luft. Lorna tells the story about her father being raised by a bon-vivent and a Russian Jewish designer in New York City. Lorna also tells a ridiculous story that her father once heard his father tell his mother about a mysterious note a woman wrote to him when his family was in Europe one summer. Lorna tells about her parent's early relationship and how she never knew that she was actually on the way when they decided to get married. She describes the story about her early years in the house and then the hubbub of having little Joey come into the world. Lorna also writes about how when Joey was a little boy she actually went into his crib and scratched him so hard that to this day there are still scratch marks on his face, because she did not want him in the house anymore This leads into the story about Lorna's own life. She writes about her early life at first staying at one house, but by the age of nine being shuffled from England to New York to California. She then elaborates about her parents separation and how a Psychiatrist used Lorna's fear of needles to get her to admit that she did not want to live with her dad, that she did not even love her dad. After this thing got a little better but she was still going from one step-father to another constantly moving, never being able to see her father, until at the age of 15 she moves in with her dad and several months later finds out that her mother was dead. After her mother died, Lorna moved to New York to work in plays and things and had some love affairs (one with Barry Mataloe.) She tells about her dabbling with cocaine

A tender, loving, fascinating memoir

What a wonderful book. It's very clear that, despite the trials and tribulations of Lorna Luft's childhood, she loved her mother very much. I can't wait to see the movie version on TV!

A real page-turner; I couldn't put it down

Lorna Luft tells her personal story about growing up the daughter of an adored and afflicted mother. As the child of one of the world's truly legendary stars, Luft tells what it was like to love and live with the tragedy and triumph that was Judy Garland. She pulls no punches, opens herself up honestly, presenting both the positive and negative sides of all the members of this difficult family from her own perspective. Yet, the the love and admiration she has for all of them is clear. Her feelings are honest and open (for good or bad). Luft givews you an insight into the real life that the publicity mills hid. Her devotion to her mother AND her father is a testament to true love which loves in spite of as much as because of who you are. Her ability to rise above her own fears and weaknesses, problems and addictions as well as her vivid storytelling makes this a real page-turner. Is it all true? Is it exaggerated? Is it fair? I'm not here to judge that. It's a great read. THAT, I can judge.

A must-read if you have wondered what happened to the Lufts

For years I have wondered whatever became of Judy Garland's two children by Sid Luft. In this well-written and often painfully honest book, I finally know part of the answer. Some would view this book as a case of celebri- ty-bashing, while others might think Ms. Luft in- dulged in name-dropping to enhance her own image. I disagree with both views. Ms. Luft offers plenty of examples of her own cluelessness, drug addic- tion, and mental confusion along the way. Some mentions of celebrities were unavoidable in the service of providing context for Ms. Luft's own story. And what a story! She details lost opportu-nities galore as she spent the seventies party- ing and being seduced by the likes of Burt Reynold rather than launching her own career. This is a book about lost opportunities. It is also about a family that faced more drama in real life than you will find in any of their movies. That sense of drama, combined with Ms. Luft's humor and focussed writing, m! ade the book a page- turner for me.