Too Much and Never Enough | Mary L. Trump

Title: Too Much and Never Enough
Author: Mary L. Trump

This book isn't particularly good and lacks any real revelations about Donald Trump. We are told what we already knew--that Fred Trump, Donald Trump's father, was basically the worst. He was the source of the abhorrent behavior that we see on a near daily basis. The author tells us that the family would sit around the dinner table and, for instance, talk about how nasty and fat women were. The way she tells it, she seems to have empathy for Donald. We are all, after all, products of our parents, but she fails to place responsibility solely on the shoulders of Donald. We all have the responsibility to better ourselves; we can only blame our parents to a point.

To me, it felt like this book was retaliation for being disinherited. The author tells us how, after her father's death, she and her brother were removed from her grandfather's will and denied her father's share of her grandfather's estate. That said, the best parts of this book were learning about her father, Freddy. His story is very sad, descending into alcoholism as he continuously fails to meet his father's expectations.

All in all, this book falls short of something that could be great. Mary Trump comes across by turns either exceedingly bitter or oddly emotionless. 

Three out of five stars.

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QUOTES:

"Donald today is much as he was at three years old: incapable of growing, learning, or evolving, unable to regulate his emotions, moderate his responses, or take in and synthesize information."

"I hope this book will end the practice of referring to Donald's 'strategies' or 'agendas,' as if he operates according to any organizing principles. He doesn't. Donald's ego has been and is a fragile and inadequate barrier between him and the real world, which, thanks to his father's money and power, he never had to negotiate by himself. Donald has needed to perpetuate the fiction my grandfather started that he is strong, smart, and otherwise extraordinary, because facing the truth--that he is none of those things--is too terrifying for him to contemplate."

"He had all of the confidence of a bully who knows he's always going to get what he wants and never has to fight for it."

"A large minority of people still confuse his arrogance for strength, his false bravado for accomplishment, and his superficial interest in them for charisma."

"The out-of-control COVID-19 pandemic, the possibility of an economic depression, deepening social divides along political lines thanks to Donald's penchant for division, and devastating uncertainty about our country's future have created a perfect storm of catastrophes that no one is less equipped than my uncle to manage."

"Though nothing Donald did surprised me, the speed and volume with which he started inflicting his worst impulses on the country--from lying about the crowd size at the inauguration and whining about how poorly he was treated to rolling back environmental protections, targeting the Affordable Care Act in order to take affordable health care away from millions of people, and enacting his racist Muslim ban--overwhelmed me."

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READING PROGRESS:
The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan: 75%
Desperation by Stephen King: 73%
A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller: 30%
Origin by Lew Gibb: 36%

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