Overview

• Published on June 3 by Viking, the memoir recounts Jong-Fast’s shift to primary caregiver after Erica Jong’s 2023 dementia diagnosis and move to a Manhattan nursing home.
• Jong-Fast explores her pursuit of independence from the shadow of her mother’s literary fame as she forges her own identity.
• She frames her story within Generation X’s midlife challenges, highlighting caregiving burdens and cultural overshadowing by baby boomers.
• The book offers a candid look at the “nepo baby” dynamic, acknowledging her inherited advantages while stressing the need for hard work and kindness.
• The memoir intertwines her mother’s dementia and her husband’s cancer diagnosis without neatly resolving their emotional complexities.