Tatum O`Neal is the daughter of actor Ryan O` Neal and his first wife Joanna Moore, an actress herself, she was the wife of John McEnroe and is the mother of 3 children. This is her second book, her first A Paper Life was an excellent read as is this.
Tatum had an unconventional and dysfunctional upbringing to say the least, it lead her to serious drug and drink issues which severely impacted on her ability to function as a mother and as a human being. Much of the blame is laid at the doorstep of her father and in this case that is probably the place to put it,although she acknowledges the responsibility of others charged with caring for the young Tatum and Griffin.
A fair and honest portrait, this is a lady who excepts her own failures and deals with them, all the while trying to rebuild the fractured relationship she has with the highly immature and volatile Ryan O`Neal. Her mother is dead and her brother Griffin is a bigger train wreck than she is. Stepmother Farrah Fawcett(the term is used loosely) appears to simply not have even the slightest ability to understand the needs of the children brought into her life and really this lack of understanding must have transferred itself to her parenting of her son Redmond who spends the bulk of his time in jail...sad, sad, sad.
Addiction and bad temperedness course through the O`Neal veins with disastrous consequences for anyone who comes into contact with them, few escape their emotional havoc.
Tatum writes with an acceptance, a lack of bitterness, a dash of anger here and there and a great sense of humour, how she has kept it I don`t know but she sounds like a fun lady with a ton of dissolving baggage.
Her desire to be a family as she imagines a family would be, is a work in progress but she is a strong and brave lady. I would imagine anyone would enjoy this book but those with issues similar to her`s would find it very helpful.
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