Book Review – Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! Liza Minnelli’s memoir.

To begin with, this needed a major edit.

Liza’s close friend, Michael Feinstein, suggested she should write her memoir so she could set the record straight on the stories journalists have printed over the years. So, she recorded her memoirs with Michael, who later wrote this book.

But having a close friend in charge of a project like this is not a always a good idea.

While her earlier memories with her erratic superstar mother and more settled, movie director father, are fascinating to read, her later recollections let this biography down.

Anecdotes colour a retelling of a life.

And anecdotes are what’s missing in the chapters which follow her “come back”. Instead, it sounds a little like bragging as she recalls what happened next, which led to such and such, then allowed another opportunity to open up.

In between her young life and her recent decades, she tells of her struggles staying relevant after the success of Cabaret. These chapters are also interesting, giving insight into show business in the late twentieth century, which is distinctly different to her parents’ experiences mid-century.

There is a lot to like about this book.

But more focus should have been paid to the final outcome. Sure, Liza has been given the last word, but a few less words would have made a lot of difference.