In Fiction Ruined My Family Jeanne Darst isn't posing, bragging or begging. She fully experiences the life of an artist and plies her wares in private homes or working barns or legitimate theater. She tells her story without exaggeration, though she admits that perhaps it isn't entirely true either. She doesn't need our approval, though she has it (or at least the book does).

The book could easily have been titled Fitzgerald Ruined My Family as F. Scott Fitzgerald is the ever-present character sharing the Darst family values of writing, alcohol and dysfunctional family relationships. The youngest of four daughters, Darst heard stories of her grandparents' lives as writers and local muckety mucks. Darst's father struggles with a devotion to writing that competes with family obligations. Her alcoholic mother reminisces about her long-gone privileged childhood. Darst feels drawn to writing (and boozing) early. Though she suspects that she puts everything after writing, Darst keeps in mind that she chose her life. She eventually sobers and sets out to discover if she can have writing without ruin, sobriety and creativity, ambition and happiness.

Unlike a hipster playing at poverty, Darst doesn't have a direct line to daddy's wallet. Like poor families of noble blood around the world, Darst's heritage is as much a help as a hindrance. She has all the tools to pull herself out of the mire she put herself into and doesn't experience the hopeless abject poverty that many in this country experience. In that way, this book could be read as a "poor little rich girl" memoir, but it doesn't. Darst takes full responsibility for her choices and she lays bare without apology or regret the consequences of each decision, including urinating in her bed and pooping in a shopping bag. You don't have to approve or disapprove; these are just her facts. In this way, the reader can hold her/his nose against the offending behavior and still like Darst.

Fiction Ruined My Family by Jeanne Darst
Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
9781594488146