GENRE: Nonfiction/Memoir
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: A++
FROM PUBLISHER: Mommie Dearest is a memoir and exposé written by Christina Crawford, the adopted daughter of actress Joan Crawford. Published in 1978, it described the author's upbringing by an unbalanced alcoholic mother, whom she judged unfit to raise children.
Christina Crawford is an internationally recognized, best-selling author and advocate for adoption reform, the rights of women and children, and a pioneer in making family violence an issue of national concern.
MY THOUGHTS: Joan was an incredibly sick and controlling woman, a true Jekyll and Hyde- she was an alcoholic pill-popper, sadistic, spiteful, jealous, paranoid, cold and unconcerned, emotionally and physically abusive, and an all-around piece of garbage to her two oldest adopted children. Just out of control. In an interview Christina said that her younger brother Christopher got abused more than she did. As cruel as she was to Christina, Christina still loved her and was there for her whenever she was needed, especially during Joan's final years when she was stumbling and bumbling around drunk and couldn't make television appearances because of it. Joan got so bad off that people had to line her bed with chairs so she wouldn't fall out of bed onto the floor.
I don't see how this book could have been any better and I have nothing negative to say about it. Christina's a straightforward person and I really like that personality type. I like her even more after watching old interviews with her. She opened herself up to strangers, let them into her personal life and took a whole lot of criticism for it since many people, those who knew Joan and the public and even her younger twin sisters, say Christina fabricated the abuse.
I'll leave you with this, which either came from Joan, her mother or brother (I can't remember which) and was told to Christina during her childhood: When Joan was a young child living on a farm in Kansas she squeezed multiple chicks to death.
Christina has written a novel and several other nonfiction books which you can read about here.
Here are a few television interviews she gave in 1978 to promote the release of the book:
Bill Boggs
The Mike Douglas Show
The Phil Donahue Show
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