"The bodily message of what it means to be a star..."

"Watching Liza triumph and then crash, crash and then triumph, we witness humiliation's fiery presence within the mother-daughter bond. ... As we watch her sing "New York, New York" again and again (even as we cheer, even as we shiver with uncanny pleasure), Liza passes on to us the bodily message of what it means to be a star. ... It might mean private planes and Harry Winston jewels, but it also might mean delirium tremens at the Betty Ford Center, and garish caricatures of yourself in the minds of others.  Not always garish: in many hearts, there are genuine shrines to the fallen star, shrines tended without irony, and without unkindness."

- Wayne Koestenbaum, Humiliation