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Title: After Perfect

Subtitle: A Daughter's Memoir

Author: Christina McDowell

Narrator: Christina McDowell

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-02-15

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 408 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

In the tradition of New York Times best sellers What Remains by Carole Radziwill and Oh the Glory of It All by Sean Wilsey, Christina McDowell's unflinching memoir is a brutally honest, cautionary tale about one family's destruction in the wake of the Wall Street implosion.

Christina McDowell was born Christina Prousalis. She had to change her name to be legally extricated from the trail of chaos her father, Tom Prousalis, left in the wake of his arrest and subsequent imprisonment as one of the guilty players sucked into the collateral fallout of Jordan Belfort (the "Wolf of Wall Street"). Christina worshipped her father and the seemingly perfect life they lived...a life she finds out was built on lies. Christina's family, as is typically the case, had no idea what was going on.

Nineteen-year-old Christina drove her father to jail while her mother dissolved in denial. Since then Christina's life has been decimated. As her family floundered in rehab, depression, homelessness, and loss, Christina succumbed to the grip of alcohol, drugs, and promiscuity before finding catharsis in the most unlikely of places. From the bucolic affluence of suburban Washington, DC, to the A-list clubs and seedy underbelly of Los Angeles, this provocative memoir unflinchingly describes the harsh realities of a fall from grace. Full of '90s nostalgia and access to the inner circles of the Washingtonian societal elite, Christina McDowell's beautiful memoir is a Blue Jasmine story from a daughter's perspective.

Members Reviews:

Mixed reaction

This memoir details the loss of extreme privilege. But, by the end, I wasn't sure that the writer was missing wealth/father/childhood privilege as much as basic common sense/intelligence. Frustrating. I'm glad I listened to it, but I'm not sure I recommend it. If anything, it's a cautionary tale of the extensive damage that can be done to children when money takes the place of love in a "perfect" childhood that was built on greed and being better than the neighbors. Hmph.

FAR too much name-dropping

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Not really. I thought I would read about introspection, but it was all about the glitzy perfect life with celebrities that poor Christina and her family had to give up. She portrays herself at completely naive, while still portraying the good life and all the name brands she can fit into the book.

Any additional comments?

I hoped for MUCH more from this book. Perhaps the Amazon reviews made it out to be better than it was, but I wasultimately disappointed.

Interesting, honest story

The story was very interesting and well written. I did not care for Chistina McDowell's voice as she read it- it came off a little whiny and was at times irritating to listen to. But I finished the whole thing and I'm glad I did.

Puts a Face to the Headlines

I always asked myself what family members of those involved in seedy Wall Street dealings did and how they felt after the news broke - this book is an absolutely splendid description of one family's struggle to find happiness, after perfect.

Easy listen

This is a great real life account of searching for purpose and meaning, and realizing that sex, alcohol and drugs won't bring those things.