NONFICTION - Jan. 9, 1994

LOVE CAN BUILD A BRIDGE by Naomi Judd with Budd Schaetzle (Villard Books: $24; 546 pp.) The life story of now-retired country singer Naomi Judd feel as if it were based on a TV mini-series. There’s the teen-age pregnancy, poverty, a dream that wouldn’t die, the phenomenal overnight success of the Judd duo, Naomi and daughter Wynona, and finally, Naomi’s early retirement due to liver disease.

This is all chronicled in “Love Can Build a Bridge,” a book that, while not stylistically remarkable, practically sweats Naomi Judd’s personality from every sentence so that by the last page many readers will feel as if they’ve known her all their lives.

For the first half of “Love Can Build a Bridge” Naomi Judd’s pithy remarks and positive attitude serve the story well. “There are two kind of jobs: for one you shower before you go to work, for the other you shower after the work’s done. Me, I may glisten if it’s hot, but I don’t like to sweat.” Judd’s refusal to give up in the face of bone-crushing poverty is truly inspiring, however, once the Judds are firmly ensconced in world-wide fame, the book loses a lot of its edge and ultimately becomes repetitious. This is strange because Naomi Judd’s tooth and nail fight with incurable hepatitis should be powerful stuff, yet it feels a little flat. Muffled. Even the language changes. “Already polluted by unrelenting misery, my body’s reaction to the introductory interferon shot exaggerated my discomfort almost beyond my ability to withstand.”

One notable exception to the weak second half is the chapter describing the Judds’ farewell concert, a beautiful, evocative piece of writing that stands all on its own.