Too Much and Never Enough

Some interesting insights into the history of the family and the generational disfunction that might have shaped Trumps behaviour and outlook. The salient information already has been published a long form essay. The rest is filled meandering trivialities that are pretty unremarkable. There's nothing massively revelatory, other than further evidence that his father was a total a-hole, which clearly impacted Trump.. Lots of whining by Mary about getting screwed out of inheritance which is sad for her but not particularly uncommon in big rich families, although the fraud involved is pretty astonishing, and the scale of it would not have been known without Mary giving documents to the NYT

Ironically the book seems like a bit of a cash grab... maybe she feels like she deserves it after losing the inheritance, but I can't help but notice the irony of it all.

It feels weird giving this five stars, but it was fascinating and horrifying. It's more the biography of the family of the last few generations and how that created the Donald Trump we have today. If it were anyone else you'd almost feel for the guy, but you can't because of everything he's done to the country.

It's interesting to see the number of people who've rated this book without reading it. I actually did read it on the same day it arrived.

For all the hype, the book is kind of ‘meh'. I didn't find any of the great revelations new or surprising. Trump is a narcissistic bully who lies and cheats. Well, okay I knew that before I opened the book.

While I'm glad I read it, it was much ado about nothing. The parts about her father, Freddy, were by far the most interesting. If you're hoping to read a book that spills the tea, this isn't it.

I applaud the author for writing this. I think the most pertinent parks were released before the book was released. Not a whole lot of modern day anecdotes since she is not in his inner circle, she barely ever mattered to him, and she is the daughter of the brother he couldn't be bothered to mourn.

What this does well is explain what exactly caused all the damage to Donald Trump's psyche, what turned what started out as presumably a perfectly good human, and turned him into an utterly morally bankrupt, intellectually bereft, destroyer of ... things.

You can definitely see the through-line between being taught that love, kindness, and admitting failure are forbidden and what we have now. We also learn that according to the Trumps, airline pilot is equivalent to bus driver. Considering that time Trump climbed up into the truck cab, and seemed giddy and playful, we all would be much better off with bus driver being seen as a worthy endeavor.

If Mary Trump is a quarter as stable as she seems to be, coming from that family, there's hope for us all.

This has been the most informative non-fiction read I've read in a while. The timeline that takes place within this book is large range and descriptive. I definitely enjoyed Dr. Mary L. Trumps book and really putting herself out there not only as a family member of the trump family but her professional viewpoints in her Clinical Psychology role. She brings up events that occurred throughout a large range of time and explains she has gone through with her brother. I do not sway left or right when it comes to politics and I was a bit leery on reading this one, but it really gives you a glimpse of what its like to be an outsider within a powerful family. I honestly felt for her throughout this book on how she was treated as a woman and within the family. Just goes to show that family issues can run deep and that sometimes you are not alone in that struggle. Very well done Dr. Trump.

This is about the Trump family, and how it made Donald the POS he is today. There is nothing in this book about him that will surprise you, but it may help explain how being a member of an utterly dysfunctional, unloving, uncaring family can result in the the man we are suffering under now. The most profound part is where the author equates her uncle to Frankenstein's monster, a product of those who created him, and driven by the rage born from that creation process. She quotes the monster in the 1994 film Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: “I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine, and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other.”