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Reviews
Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man by Mary L. Trump
christie_esau's review
4.0
Proof that your family lineage can have an extremely significant impact upon who you become as a person.
doritobabe's review against another edition
3.0
3/5
I guess I am not sure what I was expecting from this book. Maybe something a bit more scandalous, something that put more of the onus/responsibility of Trump's actions *on* Trump. For anyone looking for a more psychological 'diagnosis', this book is not that (Mary Trump makes this clear right from the start).
This book is less a biography about Donald Trump and more an autobiography/memoir of Mary Trump's experiences and perspectives of the family. I do not say this in any negative way what-so-ever; Mary Trump's retelling of her experiences and the 'prison-like' life (my words) of what it is like to be apart of that family really sheds an interesting light on everyone in the Trump family and I now find myself looking at the family differently. Except Donald. I still think he is a despicable human being that I disagree with on many moral grounds and no amount of pity will change my opinion of the man. (Note - I do not live in the United States but the effect he has had on other countries is still palpable.)
Overall an interesting read that I learned a lot about family dysfunction, emotional abuse, mental abuse and the value of boundaries, perspective, and kindness... just not what I was expecting and in the end, I am glad for it.
I guess I am not sure what I was expecting from this book. Maybe something a bit more scandalous, something that put more of the onus/responsibility of Trump's actions *on* Trump. For anyone looking for a more psychological 'diagnosis', this book is not that (Mary Trump makes this clear right from the start).
This book is less a biography about Donald Trump and more an autobiography/memoir of Mary Trump's experiences and perspectives of the family. I do not say this in any negative way what-so-ever; Mary Trump's retelling of her experiences and the 'prison-like' life (my words) of what it is like to be apart of that family really sheds an interesting light on everyone in the Trump family and I now find myself looking at the family differently. Except Donald. I still think he is a despicable human being that I disagree with on many moral grounds and no amount of pity will change my opinion of the man. (Note - I do not live in the United States but the effect he has had on other countries is still palpable.)
Overall an interesting read that I learned a lot about family dysfunction, emotional abuse, mental abuse and the value of boundaries, perspective, and kindness... just not what I was expecting and in the end, I am glad for it.
tami80469's review
4.0
Interesting read! Definitely parental failure that DT turned out the way he did but sometime you gotta take on the responsibility for your own life and can‘t blame everyone else. So no, I do not feel sorry for him. #sorrynotsorry
As for the writing, sometimes the jumping from one thing to the next felt too fast with no explanation whatsover. (e.g „the big elephant in the room“)
As for the writing, sometimes the jumping from one thing to the next felt too fast with no explanation whatsover. (e.g „the big elephant in the room“)
sunniedey's review
5.0
I love Mary L. Trump! This made me understand why he is the way he is. That definitely doesn’t give him the excuse or forgiveness of what he has done or what is he doing now!
s_smiadak's review
4.0
Trump's family dynamics has everything to do with the type of person he grew up to be. This book provides insight into his family life and his psychological pathology.
tatterededges's review
3.0
DNF
I’m sure that at another time I would find this book really interesting but at the moment I’m just over this imbecile and I’m completely out of fucks to give.
I’m sure that at another time I would find this book really interesting but at the moment I’m just over this imbecile and I’m completely out of fucks to give.
sam12213's review
4.0
(audiobook)
Really like how Don is more of a side character in this than anything, because it proves how much of a shitshow this entire family is - and the extent to which you could argue that it's not even his fault per se that Donnie turned out like this. This whole family seems like Arrested Development at best, and intensely claustrophobic and toxic at its worst (which is most of the time).
I also like looking at this through the lens of Mary being a Trump herself; you can tell that she was raised from a position of privilege just by the way she uses comparison or seems to value people based on material worth. Could be that she was just emulating her family's rhetoric, but I think this is kind of built in simply because she is a Trump.
Super super interesting
Really like how Don is more of a side character in this than anything, because it proves how much of a shitshow this entire family is - and the extent to which you could argue that it's not even his fault per se that Donnie turned out like this. This whole family seems like Arrested Development at best, and intensely claustrophobic and toxic at its worst (which is most of the time).
I also like looking at this through the lens of Mary being a Trump herself; you can tell that she was raised from a position of privilege just by the way she uses comparison or seems to value people based on material worth. Could be that she was just emulating her family's rhetoric, but I think this is kind of built in simply because she is a Trump.
Super super interesting
jellybeanette's review
4.0
When I heard Mary Trump was writing a tell-all about Trump, I was both interested and wary; Do I really want to read an entire book about that horrible man? I continued to ask myself that question as I checked it out at the library, all the way to reading the foreword. Mary Trump’s writing is witty and sarcastic, and from the beginning she makes it obvious how she feels about her uncle. I’ve always had a fascination with psychology and neurology, and I think Mary did a great job of writing both a biographical history of the Trump family and an analysis of the dysfunction that made Donald Trump the way he is today.
In fact, dysfunction doesn’t feel like a strong enough word. The way Freddy Trump, Mary’s father and Donald’s brother, was treated by his family was horrible, and that cruelty extended to Mary and her brother. Money is the only thing that matters to the Trump family, and Fred Trump, their father, was just the sort of villain that would get a book rejected for being too cliché.
I realize that Mary Trump is the opposite of impartial when it comes to this subject, but her words rang true to me. The book is worth a read, but if you’d like to avoid feeling outrage and reading about emotional abuse, I’d skip it.
In fact, dysfunction doesn’t feel like a strong enough word. The way Freddy Trump, Mary’s father and Donald’s brother, was treated by his family was horrible, and that cruelty extended to Mary and her brother. Money is the only thing that matters to the Trump family, and Fred Trump, their father, was just the sort of villain that would get a book rejected for being too cliché.
I realize that Mary Trump is the opposite of impartial when it comes to this subject, but her words rang true to me. The book is worth a read, but if you’d like to avoid feeling outrage and reading about emotional abuse, I’d skip it.
seclement's review
4.0
This is a really insightful book, with little to no sensationalism, that explains quite a lot about Trump and his upbringing, and why he is as he is today. If you want to better understand some of the reasons for his behaviour, I would highly recommend a read.