The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir

This memoir had everything. The first half was fun, with lots of name-dropping and fun stories about celebrities like Sean Connery, Joan Didion, Carrie Fisher, and more. The second half was consumed by the murder of Griffin's beloved sister, Dominique, and all of the emotions associated with that horrific event. Throughout the book, you come to know and love Griffin's family. This is a beautiful memoir about people you come to feel as though you know personally.

I was expecting something a little more literary from the son of [a:Dominick Dunne 11012 Dominick Dunne https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1206680877p2/11012.jpg], and nephew of writing power couple [a:John Gregory Dunne 79463 John Gregory Dunne https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1212082753p2/79463.jpg] and [a:Joan Didion 238 Joan Didion https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1640504428p2/238.jpg]. But actor/director/producer Griffin Dunne relies primarily on name dropping in his memoir (he “deflowered” Carrie Fisher at her request; Sean Connery rescued him from drowning; he took a drama class with Linda Lovelace, who introduced Griffin to her current beau, Sammy Davis, Jr.) He also rather blithely portrays his family's dysfunctional dynamics, including alcoholism, mental illness, and closeted homosexuality, that fostered loving but fragile relationships. The heart of the memoir is the tragic death of Griffin's younger sister Dominique, who was strangled by a former boyfriend. The Dunnes went against legal advice and chose to attend the killer's trial, then watched, horrified, as the facts of the crime were twisted by the defense attorney so that Dominique and her rich, privileged family were seen as partially culpable. These chapters show that Dunne is capable of strong feelings and insight. Too bad the rest of the book has such an emotionally detached tone. Dunne's story ends abruptly in 1990 with the birth of his daughter (Mom is actress/former Bond Girl Carey Lowell). He doesn't discuss his most recent role as Uncle Nicky Pearson on NBC's This is Us, but I'll bet he felt comfortable being part of a drama about family dysfunction.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Press for the ARC of Griffin Dunne's The Friday Afternoon Club (released in June 2024).

I could not put this book down. Dunne grabs your attention from page 1. He tells of his life and his talented loving dysfunctional family. He also includes the story of his sister's murder and the effect it had on his entire family. He highlights the solitary experience of a family dealing with the justice system in such a horrible tragedy.