Too Much and Never Enough

Too Much and Never Enough. Mary Trump. 2020.

This was a really interesting read.  Written by the niece of the politician and former reality tv show host, this up-close-and personal memoir has a lot of things going for it.  Childhood stories of cruelty and pain form the backdrop of a narrative about a dysfunctional, but powerful, family with access to obscene wealth.  When my kids were little, we talked a lot about our family values. Over and over again I told my kids, "In this family, we value being kind and generous."  This is a portrait of a family whose "family values" are very different than that.  It is a reminder that how we raise our children matter, not just our own children, but all the children. The experience of children who are bullied at home, who are not raised with loving kindness, who are emotionally neglected, cannot be ignored.  The community around this family had so many opportunities to intervene and no one was able to meaningfully connect with this obviously struggling child.  And look at how that turned out for all of us?

She was blatant about her political agenda, which I found distracting and a little irritating at times, but I'm not it would have been better if she ignored it, either.  

​Recommend.

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