Lies My Mother Never Told Me: A Memoir - Softcover

9780061778711: Lies My Mother Never Told Me: A Memoir
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Her mother, Gloria, was a brainy knockout whose fierce wit could shock an audience into hilarity or silence. Her father was James Jones, the award-winning author of From Here to Eternity and other acclaimed novels of World War II . Kaylie Jones grew up amid such family friends as William Styron, Irwin Shaw, James Baldwin, and Willie Morris, and socialized with the likes of Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, and Kurt Vonnegut. When her father died from heart failure complicated by years of drinking, sixteen-year-old Kaylie was broken and lost, which in turn left her powerless to withstand her mother's withering barbs and shattering criticism, or to halt Gloria's further descent into the bottle—or that of her own.

Lies My Mother Never Told Me is a beautifully written tale of personal evolution, family secrets, second chances, and one determined woman's journey to find her own voice.

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About the Author:

Kaylie Jones is the author of Celeste Ascending, As Soon as It Rains, and A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, which was made into a film starring Kris Kristofferson and Barbara Hershey.

From The Washington Post:
From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com Reviewed by Juliet Wittman Novelist Kaylie Jones is the daughter of James Jones, who wrote some of the finest war novels of the 20th century. Her childhood was in some ways both idyllic and conducive to her becoming a writer. She spent much of it in Paris, surrounded by stellar literary talents; her book is filled with names such as Peter Matthieson, Truman Capote, Irwin Shaw, Norman Mailer and William Styron. Her mother, Gloria, was known for her high spirits, beauty, generosity and frequently outrageous humor. But there was a worm at the heart of all this: alcohol. Both James and Gloria drank a great deal, and the adult Kaylie followed in their footsteps. "Lies My Mother Never Told Me" is an homage to a beloved father, whose legacy Kaylie Jones wants to honor and carry forward, but it also is a revelation of her mother's vicious and destructive narcissism. As Kaylie slowly achieves sobriety, marries, has a child and builds a loving, stable life for herself, her mother descends into dementia, increasing her habitual attacks on Kaylie, even attempting to turn her baby granddaughter against her mother. These events should be among the most dramatic in the book, but they read oddly flat. Nor is Jones's account of her emergence from the fog of alcoholism particularly compelling. We have heard stories like this before. The most vivid moments are those that describe how her father transmitted his passion for his work to his daughter. She portrays the ethos of a time when art was everything, and boozing was considered essential to its creation.
Copyright 2009, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

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  • PublisherHarper Perennial
  • Publication date2010
  • ISBN 10 0061778710
  • ISBN 13 9780061778711
  • BindingPaperback
  • Number of pages372
  • Rating

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Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. In her riveting memoir Lies My Mother Never Told Me, Kaylie Jones--the daughter of author James Jones (From Here to Eternity) and an acclaimed author in her own right (A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries; Celeste Ascending; As Soon As It Rains)--tells the poignant story of her relationship with her famous father and her alcoholic mother, and of her own struggles with the disease. A true story of privilege, loss, self-discovery, and redemption, Lies My Mother Never Told Me is Jones's unforgettable account of a not-quite-fairy-tale childhood and adulthood defined by two constants: literature and alcohol. Her mother, Gloria, was a brainy knockout whose fierce wit could shock an audience into hilarity or silence. Her father was James Jones, the award-winning author of "From Here to Eternity" and other acclaimed novels of World War II . Kaylie Jones grew up amid such family friends as William Styron, Irwin Shaw, James Baldwin, and Willie Morris, and socialized with the likes of Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, and Kurt Vonnegut. When her father died from heart failure complicated by years of drinking, sixteen-year-old Kaylie was broken and lost, which in turn left her powerless to withstand her mother's withering barbs and shattering criticism, or to halt Gloria's further descent into the bottle—or that of her own. "Lies My Mother Never Told Me" is a beautifully written tale of personal evolution, family secrets, second chances, and one determined woman's journey to find her own voice. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780061778711

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