Author: Mary L. Trump, PH.D.

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

ISBN: 978-1-9821-4146-2

Writing a bombshell of a book where you hang out to dry your family's dirty laundry for all to see comes with its challenges. And this is the troublesome situation that Mary L. Trump found herself in with Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created The World's Most Dangerous Man.

These demands include conducting comprehensive research, recalling events during which you were not present, reconstructing dialogue, intimate conversations with family members, friends, neighbors, and associates. Assembling these into a compelling narrative is no simple accomplishment. Yet, the author pulled it off without putting me to sleep.

Mary is the daughter of Donald's older brother Freddie. She holds a Ph.D. from the Dermer Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies and taught graduate courses in trauma, psycho-pathology, and developmental psychology.

Much of Mary's early childhood was spent in her grandparents' large home in Queens, New York. It was here where Donald and his siblings grew up, and where Mary had first-hand experiences about the dysfunctionality of the Trump family.

What was unsettling for Mary and the key reason for creating her book was when Donald ran for President and elected. She sensed she was watching her family history, and Donald's important role in it, playing out on a grand scale.

As many have reported in the past, Mary points out that Donald's administration and his party have become subsumed by his politics of grievance and entitlement. He understands nothing about history, constitutional principles, geopolitics, diplomacy, and above all, was never pushed to disclose such education.

She further spells out: "to understand what brought Donald-and all of us-to this point, we need to start with her grandfather and his own need for recognition, a need that propelled him to encourage Donald's reckless hyperbole and unearned confidence that hid Donald's pathological weaknesses and insecurities." Donald's pathologies are complex, and his performances often strange that to arrive at an appropriate and comprehensive diagnosis would call for a full battery of psychological and neuro psychological assessments. It is problematic he would sit for these tests.

A good deal of the book devotes itself to Fred's rapport with his sons Donald and Freddie. Freddie had suffered from alcoholism and died at forty-two when Mary was sixteen. Mary characterizes much of her father's misfortune because his father broke him by regularly devaluing and diminishing every aspect of his psyche. No matter how hard Freddie tried to satisfy his father, he never lived up to his father's expectations. On the other hand, she emphasizes that Donald escaped this same outcome because his temperament served his father's purpose. She describes her grandfather as a sociopath who used Donald towards his ends, "ruthlessly and efficiently, with no tolerance for dissent or resistance."

Donald learned how to engage with the nastier side of dealing with contractors and navigating the political and financial power structures that bolstered the business of New York City real estate. This skill was a trait that meant a great deal to Fred, and he used this to his advantage when building many of his projects. Another quality that can be traced back to Fred was never taking responsibility for anything other than successes.

According to Mary, it is challenging to identify Donald's job description precisely in the family business. It seems it included exaggerating about his so-called successes concerning specific projects. His fabrication capacity would come in exceedingly useful in the future and helped mold the smooth, superficial impression he would come to both represent and embody. These were traits his father appreciated and enabled him to reproduce.

Among other matters that Mary probes are the family's dynamics involving other members of the family covering Donald's younger brother and sisters. Mary reveals how one of Donald's sisters, Maryanne, who had been an assistant district attorney in New Jersey, was appointed a judge as a result of the influence Roy Cohn, Donald's attorney with the Attorney General Ed Meese.

There is also the reference of the New York Times article of Oct 2, 2018 that discovered massive amounts of alleged fraud and quasi-legal and illegal activities of the Trump family that stretched over several decades. We likewise read about the opposing of her grandfather's will that disowned Mary and her brother. They were denied their father's interest in the vast estate.

Given the generally critical tone of the book, it's no surprise that Donald and none of his siblings are interviewed. Donald's younger brother, Robert, tried to block the publication of the book. He filed a temporary restraining order claiming that the book violated Mary's nondisclosure agreement she signed in 2001 when she agreed to settle her grandfather's estate. However, the judge eventually ruled that "constitutional law trumps contracts" and permitted the book's release. Amazingly, the book sold 950,000 copies by the end of its first day of publication by Simon & Schuster.

Mary L. Trump performs a splendid job of shedding fascinating light on Donald Trump and his family, but the more light is shed, the further revolting Donald shows up.