By Daisy Bhatt, 2028
I was recently recommended I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennet McCurdy, and though I don’t normally read autobiographies I was intrigued.
Jennet grew up as a child actor on Disney and is most known for her role as Sam Puckett on hit shows icarly and Sam & Cat. This book however was a way for her to finally tell her story and is just more proof of the evil that lies within the child acting industry.
I will not be the first to say that this book is extremely triggering and I needed to take long periods of time to fully understand the complex struggles that McCurdy faces. Even through the beginning of the book there is an immediate power dynamic between her mother and her that gave me chills. She also discusses the fact that she never wanted to be an actress and how her being forced into auditions developed into extreme anxiety. This struggle developed further into an eating disorder that she was also manipulated into by her mother at the age of 10.
McCurdy used dark humor as a way to create space for the audience and as she continued on the way to recovery that space created an area of nuance that I have found other authors struggle to create.
As a whole this book left me having a deeper understanding of the nuances of abuse and manipulation that people who have experienced would struggle to comprehend. McCurdy is able to create complex conversations while just talking about her life and her feelings. I’ve never connected with a person more. Her constant display of jealousy and insecurity only further my understanding of her as a person. Overall this has made me feel like biographies can be good, you just have to know what you’re looking for.
