What Would Barbra Do?: How Musicals Changed My Life »

Emma Brockes is an award-winning writer at the UK Guardian. She studied English at Oxford University, where she edited Cherwell, the student newspaper, and won the Philip Geddes Prize for journalism. In 2001 she was named Young Journalist of the Year at the British Press Awards. In 2002 she was voted Feature Writer of the Year, one of the youngest-ever recipients of the award. What Would Barbra Do? is her first book. She lives in London.

Emma Brockes didn't always love musicals. One of her most painful childhood memories is of her mother singing "The Hills Are Alive" while young Emma crossed the street en route to a babysitting gig. Mum said the music would keep muggers at bay. Emma found it warded off friends, a social life, and any chance of appearing normal.

Some people would slice off their arm with a plastic knife before they'd sit through Fiddler on the Roof or The Sound of Music. But musicals are everywhere, and it's about time someone asked why. Emma Brockes firmly believes that, in this world, our lives might be much better lived to a Broadway score. Smartly written and incredibly witty, What Would Barbra Do? is part memoir, part musical history tour, and, at its heart, the touching story of a daughter, a mother, and how musicals kept them together. It will have you laughing and singing.

The New York Times - Dave Itzkoff

If this book cannot persuade you to recognize all that is good about musicals, you are either a hopeless curmudgeon or a Tony Awards voter…Brockes delivers a spirited, articulate and utterly devourable defense of this underappreciated, if enduring, art form…Whether she's casually demolishing the earnestness of "Rent"…discussing the major flops of Rodgers and Hammerstein or arguing that the Eminem film "8 Mile" follows the guidelines of the traditional movie musical, she displays a seemingly boundless appreciation for pop history, and her writing is almost always personable without being self-absorbed, clever without being arch.