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List Price: $30.98 | | Publisher: Prometheus Books
Salesrank: 926354
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| Our Price: $6.12 |
| Used Price: $4.73 |
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| Media: Hardcover |
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Editorial Review:
Engagingly written as a journal of fond memories, life experiences, lessons learned, and tragedies overcome, this is the story of the family that gave the world actress Jennifer Aniston. Written by her mother, Nancy Aniston, this tender, poetic, and charming memoir represents a healing exercise, and most importantly serves as an example of how to cope with and understand estrangement between parent and child. During the meteoric rise of Jennifer's popularity on the hit television comedy 'Friends', Nancy and her daughter had a misunderstanding imposed on them by a tabloid TV report. In the three years since they last spoke, Nancy learned that separation from grown children is a national epidemic and that scores of parents suffer the same feelings of pain, guilt, and shame. This knowledge inspired Nancy Aniston to record family memories in this compelling volume, 'and in the process of detailed retrospection a miraculous healing took place'. Nancy chronicles her own childhood of poverty, abandonment, failed marriages, and the difficult early years as a single mother. She recalls Jennifer's early love for the theatre, the therapists, career managers, and hangers-on who endangered family bonds as she guided her daughter through the exciting, sometimes disappointing, stages of an acting career that came to realise phenomenal success. While refusing the lure of celebrity gossip, Nancy Aniston strives to secure her story's inherent dignity, hoping it will be helpful to those trying to overcome their own childhood trauma, fallout from divorce, single-parenting issues, and the 'dark hole of child/parent estrangement'.
From Mother and Daughter to Friends: A Memoir Reviews:
Like Mother Like Daughter 
2008-12-11 - When it is all said and done and you listen to the babble of Jennifer about her "saving lives" by being in Friends. "Cancer patients crying in her arms with gratitude", you see the basic similarities here. They are both sad. Money and talent cannot buy class. The way she publicized her divorce and man trouble and flaunted relationships ) all the while whining out, "WHY ARE PEOPLE SO INTO ALL OF THIS? GET OVER IT!" when she clearly cannot get over it herself is EXACTLY like the Mother in this book. Her protests are her attempt to cover up her pettiness.
So sad, so needy both of them.
If We Could All Be As Perfect as Jennifer 
2008-06-13 - Bottom line of this book is how can any celebrity treat their mother like dirt and not have anything to do with her for 9 years just over one stupid TV interview. I guess Jennifer does not have a forgiving bone in her body. She dumped her own mother and began clinging to Courtney Cox as her surrogate mother. If anything, Jennifer is the needy, whiney and insecure and selfish person here - not Nancy Aniston. Nancy has gone through horrifying things in her life and did not have a nervous breakdown and was able to care for and nuture Jennifer and what did Nancy get for that? A big, fat kick in the rear. Children are not perfect and neither are their mothers. Talk to each other and work things out is what you do. There are too many children who are treating their parents this way nowadays. Why? Because they don't want to be bothered - they don't want to spend time with them as they are too busy with their own lives and family. It is sickening. Family values have gone out the window. I think Nancy wrote a true and honest heartfelt account of her life which does include Jennifer whether Jennifer likes it or not. Nancy has every right to write a book if she wanted to. Everything is not all about Jennifer. What? Jennifer becomes a movie and TV star so her whole family has to stop existing and speaking?
Pa-leeze...
Great Book for stay at home moms
2006-08-02 - i think this is a great warning to women who give their whole life away to their husbands and leave nothing for themselves.
I feel bad that Jen's mom would reveal too many intimite details of her life. Nancy shouldn't have revealed as much as she did and I get the impression that she hid a lot of facts
from us. I feel for Jen and I like her even more now because of the book. Her mom did a good job of portraying jen in a good light and i do hope they can reconcile. I've heard that they have. I also hope that Jen can help her mom financially, since it is hard to be a full time mom and that rat ex of hers left her with hardly anything.
From Mother and Daughter to Friends: A Memoir 
2005-07-03 - Nancy Aniston is a very bitter woman. Her memoir is written with such condescension about her family and friends that one wonders if her psycho bable camaflages her self centered personality. It is clear she is jealous of her daughter's celebrity status and wants the world to know how responsible she was for Jennifers talent, only to be rejecterd by Jennifer in favor of hangers on and Jonnie come- late-lies. (lies?, that's interesting how that spilled out.)) The memoir is revenge against Jenifer, and is ugly and in bad taste.
Bleeding Heart
2005-05-02 - This is one of the most trite books I have ever picked up to read. The entire story is that of a desperate woman trying to understand why her famous daughter no longer desires a relationship with her...well it is obvious! She sold her out once during a television interview and in her attempt to rekindle the relationship she sold her out again by writing this trashy novel.
Throughout the book she attempts to appear deep, when really her writing comes off worse than a beginning writing course at a community college.
This book is a serious waste of time and money, and frankly if I were Jennifer Aniston I wouldn't bother with a mother like that either.
