cover image Judy & Liza & Robert & Freddie & David & Sue & Me: A Memoir

Judy & Liza & Robert & Freddie & David & Sue & Me: A Memoir

Stevie Phillips. St. Martin's, $25.99 (288p) ISBN 978-1-250-06577-3

This tiresome, self-involved semi-tell-all and memoir of one of the first women to break into the boys' club of theater and film talent management inadvertently reveals too much when Phillips, in one of many wheezy asides, observes that "an agent is someone who believes his or her own bullshit and can convince others of its value." This compendium of gossip from a half-century ago begins with Judy Garland's early 1960s comeback concert tour, with Phillips dishing the fading star's devastating addictions, episodes of self-mutilation, and violent rages. What Phillips doesn't offer is any great insight into Garland, though she unconvincingly asserts that the star was her greatest influence. Phillips's lack of personal appeal comes through to the reader in the value she places on lengthy episodes of dated name-dropping. There are glimmers of self-awareness, such as her own self-critical assessment while holed up with Garland in a Las Vegas hotel as the star recovered from a pill-doused accident, or Phillips's own brush with the women's movement "as the world of show business grew smaller to me." However, this ramble through the Baby Boom decades of the entertainment world will only appeal to true devotees of the period. (June)