I’M Glad My Mom Died

Review

“[The]number-one New York Times-bestselling memoir that has also achieved pop-cultural phenomenon status…I’m Glad My Mom Died is more than source material for a deluge of headlines about Grande and the slimy advances of a Nickelodeon svengali McCurdy calls simply ‘The Creator.’ McCurdy distinguishes herself from standard-issue celebrity memoir fare with a vivid, biting, darkly comic tone and an immersive present tense.”–Michelle Ruiz, Vogue

“For McCurdy, this book isn’t just her writing debut. It’s a reckoning with guilt and grief after her mother’s premature death. It’s healing from multiple eating disorders and processing decades of trauma. It’s finally doing what she wants for the first time: not acting. Writing…Healing from trauma looks different for everyone: For McCurdy, writing this memoir symbolized empowerment over her narrative. And understanding that it’s OK not to forgive her late mother provided her peace.”–Jenna Ryu, USA Today

“[A] layered account of a woman reckoning with love and violence at once…[Not] a flippant exposé of childhood stardom, nor an angry diatribe directed at an abuser. This complexity is what makes I’m Glad My Mom Died feel real…Some supposed literary types will think the immense popularity of I’m Glad My Mom Died–the hardcover initially sold out at many major bookstores–is merely the result of McCurdy’s former stardom and modern culture’s thirst for a sensational take. With its bold headline and bright cover featuring a smirking McCurdy holding a pink urn, the book feels deliberately marketed for virality, perfect for sharing on the internet and catching the eye of bookstore browsers. I’ve mentioned the title of this memoir to some people who have dismissed it out of hand, remarking that being glad one’s parent is dead is crude and a sentiment that should be kept to oneself. But those people haven’t read the book. McCurdy takes her time to remember difficult and complex moments of her life, staying true to her younger self while ultimately trying to come to terms with who she is as an independent adult. It’s a triumph of the confessional genre.”–Nina Li Coomes, The Atlantic

“A stunning memoir…[McCurdy] reveals herself to be a stingingly funny and insightful writer, capable of great empathy and a brutal punchline. It’s a document not just of all she’s endured, but also of the wisdom she accrued along the way.”–Sam Lansky, Time

“A coming-of-age story that is alternately harrowing and mordantly funny.”–Dave Itzkoff, The New York Times

“[A] magnum opus…sharply funny and empathetic.”–Ashley Spencer, The Washington Post

“[The] US summer publishing sensation that–in short, punchy sentences delivered with a high level of self-perception–could transform the trauma memoir business…[T]he book, and the reception it has received, could return the focus of the trauma narratives to the mother and create new demand for mother-daughter accounts.”–Edward Helmore, The Guardian

“McCurdy strips away the candy-coated facade of her sitcom experiences.”–Vanity Fair

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