I’m Glad My Mom Died – Jennette McCurdy

Come for the eye-catching title and stay for the juicy and disturbing details of Jennette McCurdy’s former Hollywood life.

Akin to Tara Westover’s “Educated,” McCurdy pulls back the curtain on a specific subset of American life that is so far removed from most people’s experiences it is difficult to believe that others live this way.

This isn’t a cautionary tale of childhood stardom as much as it as a family drama.

McCurdy and her siblings were raised in a completely dysfunctional but passably normal family. Whether out of necessity or exhaustion, her absentee father and enabling grandparents allowed her undiagnosed mentally ill mother to control and manipulate them — especially McCurdy — for decades.  

I read this solely out of FOMO. I’m too old to have followed her Nickelodeon career, and I couldn’t have told you who she was prior to the press about this book. All that to say, you don’t need to be a fan to be enthralled.

Part dark comedy and part therapy session, McCurdy lets you know immediately the kind of ride you’re in for, when she recounts trying to rouse her mother out of a coma by telling her she finally reached her goal weight.

It only gets worse from there.

Forced into acting to fulfill her mother’s own failed dreams, McCurdy spends 20 years battling disordered eating, alcohol abuse, OCD, co-dependency, infantilism and physical and mental abuse directly tied to her mother’s overbearing personality.

Honestly, her experiences in Hollywood, while far from perfect, were less lecherous than anything her mother did to her. Throughout, McCurdy recounts her life with clear-eyed but detached clarity. She can pivot from laugh out loud humor to stoicism within the same page.

By all accounts her mother was a terrible, terrible person. But outside of healing, I wonder about the motivations of airing dirty laundry when someone can’t defend themselves.

It appears her brothers are on board with what’s presented here, which gives credence (in my eyes) to the story, but, McCurdy is handing her mother the attention she so desperately craved while alive. Whether intended or not, she’s made her infamous — akin to Joan Crawford in “Mommie Dearest.”

There’s a little gossip that comes across as petty, but it’s also understandable when taken in context of how resentful McCurdy became near the end of her career. I’m glad she found her footing and, if “Mom” is any indication, she could have a career trajectory similar to Carrie Fisher.

The audiobook is narrated by the author, and while she may not have cared for acting, she is an engaging performer. McCurdy delivers zingers and recounts her abuse in almost the same way, which is a bit jarring but also shows she’s had the time to process and overcome. The short chapters would make this an easy read, but audio isn’t a bad way to experience it either.

There’s a lot of ground covered, and not everything is explored in detail (totally understandable since this is a memoir), but this is the type of zeitgeist book that will deliver for most audiences – if you go in knowing there are a lot of triggers.

Rating (story): 4/5 stars

Rating (narration): 4/5 stars

Formats: Audiobook (library loan)

Dates read: August 30 – September 4, 2022

Multi-tasking: Good to go. The chapters are short and McCurdy’s narration goes down easy – even when the events she depicts are next-level cringe.