Trump, Mary L. Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man. Simon and Schuster, 2020.
Too Much and Never Enough is one of those books whose basic argument and most telling evidence have been widely publicized. Its political argument--that Donald Trump is unsuited for the office he holds because of his bullying narcissistic personality and need for continual praise--is stated fully in the book’s prologue and epilogue. Mary Trump also notes that Donald is unabl
e to synthesize new information and that he has often taken credit for achievements of others. The body of the book details how Donald Trump’s sociopathic father and emotionally distant mother created a toxic family environment that damaged all their children in different ways—Donald and Freddy, Mary’s father, most of all. Freddy displeased Fred Sr. by becoming an airline pilot instead of working for the family firm under his father’s autocratic rule. When alcoholism cost him his airline job and drove him back under his father’s wing, his life went on a downward spiral that ended in an early heart attack at age 42.
Donald, by contrast, was pampered and praised for his bad behavior, his failures swept under the rug, and his bullying enabled. Every member of the family, to one extent or another, was encouraged to equate wealth with self-worth. What is missing in Mary Trump’s family story is the same kind of incisive psychological analysis of herself that she gives to others. In fact, one learns little about Mary herself, which is a shame because that kind of personal story could have broadened the book beyond its topical political context and made it a book to read long after Trump’s presidency has ended.
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