Jane Fonda's autobiography published in 2005.
I got this book from Janet who recently gave me a few books to choose from. I haven't read an autobiography in a rather long time. This hardback is very lenghty, almost 600 pages, but the chapters read very fast. A very interesting, long, busy life deserves a lengthy review.
In her memoir, this woman writes utterly candidly and we conclude that she has lead an outstanding, amazing, interesting, fulfilling life. Those of you who are old enough to remember (I am not) the Viet Nam war may be a non-fan of Jane, recalling her "Hanoi Jane" days in North Nam. Yet, she does a damn good justification for why she visited the North (to help end the useless war). Growing up, I always heard from my uncle how much he detested Jane for this. But now I have a better understanding of why she went there. Her explanation makes sense.
Her life is richly divided in the book in 3 sections, the 3 thirds of her life. Hence the title, ...So Far; she started writing this just after she turned 60 (five years in the making) and believes she will live to a ripe old age of 90. So now she's in her last 1/3. The 1st third is her troubled childhood and early sex kitten days w/her marriage to the French director, Vadim. 2nd third is her marriage to Tom Hayden and her political activism. This middle act concludes w/the marriage to Ted Turner and her lady-like, dutiful spouse persona.
Ms. Fonda wrote this entirely on her own, unlike some who utilize a ghostwriter. There's so much self disclosure in this book. I quote Janet who commented that "usually biographies are more revealing" but this autobiograpy reveals everything. Even her private sex life, telling the reader that she had threesomes w/her first husband and some lesbian relations while married to him, for the sake of pleasing him. Her life so far I found to be simply FASCINATING. She comes across as a very intelligent woman. Janet thought the book was revealing, too, up until Turner came along, perhaps she thought Ms. Fonda was protecting him and his kids? I thought Fonda opened up during this time. Why would she try to protect them when she wrote a hell of a lot of juice when describing her marriage to Tom Hayden who is still alive, too. Speaking of Mr. Hayden, during my university days I took a Radicalism in America class and Tom was our guest professor (about 10 years after the Viet Nam war ended). At this time, he was also state assemblyman. She has high praise for Tom, as she does for all her husbands, but points out her unhappiness w/them, too. She gives credit where it's due yet on the other hand, she writes the flaws in each of them as well as her own (and she had a lot as she admits). Each chapter is prefaced by a quote which describes the subject of that chapter. The quotes are usually by poets and playwrites. I very much respect and admire Ms. Fonda for her humanity, inspiration, honesty and zest for life.
Jane discuses her bulimia that lasted from her teens till her early 40s; it was always that shadow in her life, always there. Yet she presented in a way that no one ever knew. She always showed up and cleaned up for the public. In this most open of nonfictions, this strong woman was a model in her younger years, a movie star, became an activist, and in the third act of her life has become a philanthropist, environmentalist, spiritualist and finally a whole being. I truly admire her for her brutal honesty and feeling as if she held nothing back in writing this. It inspired me to want to become a better person myself and to try and make a difference on this planet. She is a role model for feminists everywhere and has a passion for life and empathy for abused woman and girls. She found the Georgia Campaign for adolescent girls to prevent teen pregnancy. We see her blossom from an insecure unloved girl (Henry Fonda was cold and unloving; her mother committed suicide when Jane was a young girl) to a whole-hearted confident and wise woman in her later life. In between, she seeks to please each of her three husbands, morphing into what they expect her to be and losing herself on the way. Now she approaches 70 and is content being on her own and still leads a very fulfilling life. Not sure if Fonda enemies would want to read this, or men in general, to be truthful. But anyone who's female would benefit from this. Fonda hopes that in writing her memoir she can "provide a lens through which others can see their lives and how they can live them a little differently."
I have to say that after reading this, I am now "fond of Fonda!"
