Arrives: Friday, 7 Aug

In this revelatory, authoritative portrait of Donald J. Trump and the toxic family that made him, Mary L. Trump, a trained clinical psychologist and Donald’s only niece, shines a bright light on the dark history of their family in order to explain how her uncle became the man who now threatens the world’s health, economic security and social fabric.

Mary Trump spent much of her childhood in her grandparents’ large, imposing house in New York, where Donald and his four siblings grew up. She describes a nightmare of traumas, destructive relationships and a tragic combination of neglect and abuse. She explains how specific events and general family patterns created the damaged man who currently occupies the Oval Office, including the strange and harmful relationship between Fred Trump and his two oldest sons, Fred Jr. and Donald.

A first-hand witness, Mary brings an incisive wit and unexpected humour to sometimes grim, often confounding family events. She recounts in unsparing detail everything from her uncle Donald’s place in the family spotlight and Ivana’s penchant for regifting to her grandmother’s frequent injuries and illnesses and the appalling way Donald, Fred Trump’s favourite son, dismissed and derided him when he began to succumb to Alzheimer’s.

Numerous pundits, armchair psychologists and journalists have sought to explain Donald Trump’s lethal flaws. Mary Trump has the education, insight and intimate familiarity needed to reveal what makes Donald, and the rest of her clan, tick. She alone can recount this fascinating, unnerving saga, not just because of her insider’s perspective but also because she is the only Trump willing to tell the truth about one of the world’s most powerful and dysfunctional families.

Guess what! Well, old man Fred Trump with his millions favoured Donald rather than his brother Freddy, Mary’s father, whom he cut out of his will. It is a story that is common to many families and the explanation is also textbook. Old Fred took exception to Freddy because he was a hopeless failure, a sponger who could not hold down a job or provide for his family and who drank himself to death. No wonder old Fred was a bit irked. Mary smarted over this monumental sense of injustice for years until she concluded that ‘I had to take Donald down’.

So she challenged Fred’s will and got a settlement. But that sort of family settlement is usually ‘too much and never enough’. Now she is driven solely by hatred.

Frank wrote on Aug 4^th, 2020 at 12:23pm:


If only she could be driven by love, like uncle Donny is.

 

10 Rejected Titles For Biden’s New Memoir



If You Don't Read This, You Ain't Black: Close, but the marketing team wanted to cast a wider net.

My Time As, You Know, The Thing: All the trademark clarity of his presidency in one phrase.

Two Scoops of Mint Chocolate Chip, Waffle Cone, Please: Always ice cream with this guy.

Look, Fat: This option was ultimately discarded to avoid body shaming any potential readers.

The Last of the Dog-Faced Pony Soldiers: A tantalizing tease of the treasures found in the book.

My Life as a Chinese Asset: A little too raw and real-world.

Tales from a Truck Driving Lifeguard: This title was tossed after the fictional portion of the book was removed.

How We Finally Beat Medicare: An inspiring rallying cry everyone still hasn't figured out.

If I Did It: His "hypothetical" confession to killing America, right there in black and white.

Truinnernationalundrepressure: Surprisingly, this is more legible than the rest of the memoir.