One of the Family - Hardcover

Fairey, Wendy W.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393030938 ISBN 13: 9780393030938

Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc, 1992

Synopsis

The author chronicles her quest to reclaim her father, British philosopher A. J. Ayer--whom, as a child, she knew only as the close friend of her mother, Sheila Graham--describing her growing up years in Hollywood and her intellectual aspirations.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

Fairey's primary (and mild) claim to fame is that her mother was Sheilah Graham, Hollywood gossip columnist and lover of F. Scott Fitzgerald. The interest of this rich memoir, however, is not in its celebrity cast, but in its reflections on the heritage of parents, biological and otherwise. Growing up in Beverly Hills, young Fairey knew that her ostensible father was a virtual stranger who lived overseas and sent monogrammed handkerchiefs every Christmas. Her first brush with a father substitute came when her mother married a football coach nicknamed ``Bow Wow''; Fairey, then ten, hated him. Then her mother began a book detailing her relationship with Fitzgerald, and the flurry of nostalgic obsession caused Fairey to identify the dead author as an intellectual progenitor. But it was not until the aftermath of her mother's death, when Fairey was 46, that she learned that her biological father was in fact famous British philosopher A.J. (``Freddie'') Ayer. Accepting this meant acknowledging that her mother had lied to her all her life. On receiving a letter from Ayer confirming his paternity, Fairey says, ``I felt rescued from my old life...transfigured by Freddie's acknowledgement into someone new and better.'' A London visit with Ayer preceding his death produced for Fairey glimmers of belonging and pangs of loss for not having shared her father's life. Fairey deftly and exhaustively probes her lifelong struggle with a charming but selfish mother, and the effects her parade of fathers had on her sense of self. A graceful and moving personal examination. (Photographs.) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Library Journal:

This is an extraordinary remembrance of Sheilah Graham (Hollywood columnist for over 30 years and lover of F. Scott Fitzgerald) by her daughter. Fairey weaves an engrossing tale of growing up in a bizarre household where Graham, long separated from her husband, served as mother and father to her two children, whom she adored. Graham spent a lifetime disguising her early years as a Jewish orphan in London. The real revelation for Fairey came after Graham's 1988 death when she learned that her father was not businessman Trevor Westbrook, but English philosopher A.J. "Freddie" Ayer. Fairey exhibits patience and understanding, and her writing reflects neither bitterness nor vindictiveness. Through her process of reconciliation, she helps readers to accept their own family quirks. This well-written and thoughtful memoir is highly recommended.
- Linda Beck, Indian Valley P.L., Telford, Pa.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0393030938
• ISBN 13: 9780393030938
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288