3 Memoirs by: Moon Unit Zappa, Jeannette McCurdy, Molly Jong Fast

[looloo]

I've read/listened to these three memoirs by women of different ages (30s, 40s, 50s), and they're all SO good. 

[bloomie]

Thank you for sharing these with the community, Looloo.

[Catothecat]

I recently read Jeannette McCurdy's memoir, "I'm Glad My Mom Died" (how's that for a succinct title?!), and I agree that it's surprisingly good and surprisingly honest. She doesn't mince words, sugarcoats nothing.  She struggles with the truth and admits to the struggle and finally is able to turn her back on the career her mother chose for her.

I didn't know Molly Jong-Fast wrote a memoir.  I'll look for it.  I never thought much about Erica Jong because I wasn't a fan of her fiction (thought she was okay but nothing special in spite of all the hype) but then I read Julia Phillip's "You'll Never Eat Lunch in this Town Again" and her recounting of dealings with Jong are pretty devasting.  So no surprise her daughter is writing this type of memoir.
 

[Rebel13]

I also loved Jeannette McCurdy's book. I thought she did a really great job detailing the effects of narcissistic behavior on a child. At times it made my stomach hurt, it was so evocative of my experience.

I didn't realize Molly is Erica Jong's daughter! I will check that one out for sure.

[frogjumpsout]

I loved McCurdy's book! Jong-Fast's, which I just finished, left me feeling unsettled. Where she lands is an idea I've often heard in various 12-step rooms: "My mom did her best." When a parent prioritizes herself over her child, has she actually done her best in raising her?

[Rebel13]

I just finished Molly Jong-Fast's "How to Lose Your Mother" and I feel similarly to you, frogjumpsout. I felt a lot of empathy for Molly but also it seemed to me that she is still struggling with the FOG quite a lot. Like maybe her mom was self-absorbed and neglectful but not critical or abusive, and that could make it harder to connect with the anger and unfairness? I don't know. I did get frustrated a few times at her frequent assessments that she was "a bad daughter." If she's a bad daughter after everything she's done for her mother, what does that make me? And the few times she was a "good daughter" were when she did what her parents wanted? I'm still kind of struggling to unravel her story which had a lot in common with mine but was also so, so different in many ways.

Thanks again to looloo for mentioning this book.