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Will There Really Be a Morning?: An Autobiography
"This chilling self-portrait of the once well-known motion-picture actress who spent much of her adult life in a state mental institution is one of the most forthright, harrowing self-analyses of schizophrenia that have ever been recorded."--from the front flap.
Hardcover
,
318 pages
Published
January 1st 1972
by Putnam Publishing Group
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Community Reviews
(showing
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1,965)
This book is not what you think it is.
(And I've written about Frances Farmer in more detail here: http://www.themorningnews.org/article... )
It isn't an autobiography of Frances Farmer so much as it's an autobio-biography. That is, it's a biography of Frances Farmer written by her best-friend, Jean Ratcliffe (to whom the book's dedicated -- !!) but based on FF's autobiographical manuscript. Here's the catch: you never know explicitly when it's FF speaking or when it's Jean Ratcliffe speaking as F ...more
(And I've written about Frances Farmer in more detail here: http://www.themorningnews.org/article... )
It isn't an autobiography of Frances Farmer so much as it's an autobio-biography. That is, it's a biography of Frances Farmer written by her best-friend, Jean Ratcliffe (to whom the book's dedicated -- !!) but based on FF's autobiographical manuscript. Here's the catch: you never know explicitly when it's FF speaking or when it's Jean Ratcliffe speaking as F ...more
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Actress Frances Farmer wrote (supposedly) this thought-provoking and harrowing account of her life in 1972, and included her childhood, rise to stardom, betrayal by lovers, her alcoholism and drug abuse brought on by the demands of the movie studio system and a combative personality, the time spent in a mental hospital in Washington, and her later years. Published posthumously, there is some question as to the accuracy of the record. Was it written by someone else sympathetic to her cause? There
...more
Jan 22, 2008
brass
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to brass by:
everything but the girl
feel like listening? ask me about my obsession with frances farmer.
Mar 01, 2008
Emily
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
auto-and-biography
,
not-so-much
Supposedly written by Frances Farmer after her lobotomy, but I highly doubt it. I was disgusted by this book -- not only for its endless pornographic descriptions of mental-institution rapes and abuses, but the obvious contempt of the ghost-writer for his subject, whose long, depressing, and (post-Hollywood) fairly static life he treats as freakish; there's a tweaked Christianity thing going on here, too (and I'm not phobic about that kind of thing). I love trashy books. But the cynicism of this
...more
Jul 12, 2010
Velvetink
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
autobiography-memoir
,
z-1990-s
Pretty darn gut wrenching when you find out what her mother does to her. This is a more earlier and sinister tale not unlike "A Girl Interrupted".
I've heard rumors about her not having written this book, but having read this book makes me convinced that no other person could have written it than herself. It's truly painful to read but it's worth it. Never read an autobiography like this before, and I know this will stay in my head for the rest of my life.
Beauty and the Beast: The troubled life of Frances Farmer
This is one of the best autobiographies I have read in my life, and a fine piece of literary work by a Hollywood actress who endured so much; she had so much to offer and yet suffered throughout her life due to heavy alcohol abuse and the betrayal from her own parents. Her relationship with her mother was strained and torn by strife since childhood. Alcohol was the beast which controlled her life. Many of her close business associates also ...more
This is one of the best autobiographies I have read in my life, and a fine piece of literary work by a Hollywood actress who endured so much; she had so much to offer and yet suffered throughout her life due to heavy alcohol abuse and the betrayal from her own parents. Her relationship with her mother was strained and torn by strife since childhood. Alcohol was the beast which controlled her life. Many of her close business associates also ...more
I read this book over 20 years ago in paperback
before the film came out starring Jessica Lange
and Sam Sheppard. It is a harrowing account of
mental illness. I'm not sure who wrote it;
Farmer herself or a ghost writer? Nevertheless,
does it really matter? This is disturbing,
morose and tragic.
before the film came out starring Jessica Lange
and Sam Sheppard. It is a harrowing account of
mental illness. I'm not sure who wrote it;
Farmer herself or a ghost writer? Nevertheless,
does it really matter? This is disturbing,
morose and tragic.
Aug 18, 2015
Lisa Ann Gallagher
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
nonfiction
,
entertainment
,
history
,
own
,
memoirs
,
hollywood-hollyweird
,
dysfunctional-families
,
drugs-and-booze
,
film-adaptations
,
pacific-northwest
,
doomed-women
I initially LOVED this book when I first read it, back in my early twenties. Who wouldn't? Anti-establishment actress who yearns to be on stage gets saddled instead with a glossy Hollywood career and just when she attempts to break free of such reigns, her Mother From Hell has her committed, time and time again to a Mental Institute. Oh, but not just any loony bin - Frances' hospitals were clearly torture chambers for repressed Lezbo-Nazi's and poor Frances endures years of physical, psychologic
...more
I absolutely adored this book when Iread it in high school. It is haunting and has stayed with me for years after constantly playing on my mind as one of the most tragic stories I have ever read.
This was one story when after I had finished it I literally couldn't just jump into another book for about a week, I walked around instead in a shock at how cruel one life could be to a person. Really not for the faint hearted but if you stick it out to the end then it is well worth while.
As for commen ...more
This was one story when after I had finished it I literally couldn't just jump into another book for about a week, I walked around instead in a shock at how cruel one life could be to a person. Really not for the faint hearted but if you stick it out to the end then it is well worth while.
As for commen ...more
Oh.My.God. This is one of the kookiest books I've ever read. It is purportedly written by Frances Farmer but it's not.The story behind this "memoir" is almost as interesting as FF's actual life. (go google it if you have the time) This book was actually written by FF's friend Jean Rattcliffe- Friend! Not lover! as Jean points out over and over in the book. Uh, ok. It sure seems like they were a couple. But Jean makes a big point about how they were just BFF's who lived together with their dog an
...more
I only became interested in Frances Farmer because she was referenced in one of my favorite musicals "Next to Normal". I knew nothing about her when I picked up this book and this book I must say has changed a lot about myself that I didn't even think was possible. We all think we can never get through the rough patches, but Frances Farmer spent five years in a solitary room with no connection to anything or anyone and she survived. She survived and got out and learned what it was like to be lov
...more
This book is the craziest mixture of total honesty and "I don't think that's true!" that I can remember reading. Farmer is true to her own perspective at all times and she is not afraid to say unflattering things about herself, but at the same time she is obviously not completely mentally sound, so her perspective includes a lot of what I am sure are exaggerations, if not total fabrications. Of all the autobiographies I have read, she might be the most unreliable of all the unreliable narrators.
...more
This book documents the abuses of the mental health industry in America during the time Frances Farmer stayed in a psychiatric institution in the 1940's. She is declared insane and striped of her basic human rights. The methods in which we did, and sometimes still do treat the mentally ill including: shock treatments, hydrotherapy, insulin therapy are horrid; and there is no wonder people were never rehabilitated.
This book made me angry, and sad... it was moving. Read it.
This book made me angry, and sad... it was moving. Read it.
This was one of the most moving autobiographies that I have ever read. To know that society back then deemed women behaving out of the norm as having a mental illness is disheartening. And forced to be institutionalized by her own fame hungry mother, when fame was the last thing France Farmer cared about is truly a sad story. Held down by orderlies and raped, she suffered by the hands of those who sought to control her mind, body, and way of thinking. This book is brutally honest about and sheds
...more
Mar 21, 2007
Fuzz
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone interested in biographys or classic film stars
Shelves:
great-books
FRANCES FARMER: 1913-1970
Frances Farmer was a successful screen and stage actress in Hollywood and Broadway in the 1930s and 1940s. There have been numerous storys about her life, many of which were false accounts. What a better way to learn more about her than by reading her own side of the story.
What could drive a person to feel this way?:
"I preferred, and still do, cold calculation to compassion."
This book grabs you in the first page and won't let go until you've finished. It can be a bit ha ...more
Frances Farmer was a successful screen and stage actress in Hollywood and Broadway in the 1930s and 1940s. There have been numerous storys about her life, many of which were false accounts. What a better way to learn more about her than by reading her own side of the story.
What could drive a person to feel this way?:
"I preferred, and still do, cold calculation to compassion."
This book grabs you in the first page and won't let go until you've finished. It can be a bit ha ...more
I originally read this book around 20 years ago and after a long search my partner managed to find it and gave it to me for my birthday last month. I knew nothing about Frances Farmer until I read an interview with Boy George in the early 80's. Culture Clubs "The Medal Song" was written about Frances Farmer.
This is an incredible autobiography. Harrowing, moving and eventually hopeful too. The cruelty shown to Frances by the very people that were supposed to be caring for her, including her paren ...more
This is an incredible autobiography. Harrowing, moving and eventually hopeful too. The cruelty shown to Frances by the very people that were supposed to be caring for her, including her paren ...more
I couldn't help but think as I read Ms. Farmer's memoir that this was the most gruesome yet hopeful autobiographies I had ever read. Her multiple stays at the state hospital revealed a psychiatric underbelly of existence that was truly horrifying and degrading to human life.
It seemed at times that perhaps details and situations might have been exaggerated, but then again, who is to say? It is truly amazing that Ms. Farmer was able to survive the horrors of her mental instability and I for one, ...more
It seemed at times that perhaps details and situations might have been exaggerated, but then again, who is to say? It is truly amazing that Ms. Farmer was able to survive the horrors of her mental instability and I for one, ...more
I first read this book at the impressionable age of 14. It affected me greatly, and still, in some form, does. It's a well-written tale of the fickleness of Hollywood society, the atrocity of mid-20th century asylums, the strained relationship between a dominating mother and imprisoned daughter, and a bitter alcoholic's long journey to find happiness. It was my favorite book for years, and I've read it about seven times. Frances Farmer was an amazing woman, and here we get her perspective, poten
...more
I read this decades ago but came across a quote I needed to share; so, here I am.
Riveting, depressing, real first person account of her life. Thought provoking.
so far, interesting, a challenging period in her life. Am reading a few autobiographies on movie stars producers right now...
Just finished it today, what a shocker. One of the most shocking books I have ever read. Clearly she had issues, and couldn't stop herself reacting, but what equally stands out is the barbarity of the psych hospitals and how all they really did was torture people until they dared not act out anymore. Absolutely heavy. If you have challenges in your life, this will help you ...more
Just finished it today, what a shocker. One of the most shocking books I have ever read. Clearly she had issues, and couldn't stop herself reacting, but what equally stands out is the barbarity of the psych hospitals and how all they really did was torture people until they dared not act out anymore. Absolutely heavy. If you have challenges in your life, this will help you ...more
Difficult read and harrowing life.
Wow, what an eye-opening book about this woman's life. The writing is raw and hits a nerve for sure. You begin to wonder what your life would have been like living back then. There were parts where I wanted to cry for her and parts where I felt just as angry as she described herself (esp. when her mom wants her to talk with friends she just met on the bus while visiting her in the mental institution). Amazing, amazing story, although it's not for everyone--the writing is as I said, graphic and r
...more
This was the true story of actress Frances Farmer. It was depressing to read all she went through...
I'm giving this five stars because it's the first book I can remember reading as an angsty teen. For me, before Sylvia Plath, there was Frances Farmer. Of course, I read this book because of Kurt Cobain, but it still stuck with me (probably due to the shock [no pun intended]). When I paid over $50 for this mass market paperback, I hit myself for not keeping the St. Albans Public Library copy that probably got purged after I read it.
This is the most haunting and distrubing book I ever read. I very nearly didn't finish it. However, I'm glad I did. Frances Farmer was a rising Hollywood star when she decided to leave showbusiness. This is the frightening story of how her mother managed to have her decleared incompetent and confine her to a mental hospital where unfathomable brutality ensued.
Not for the faint of heart, but a worthwhile read, nonetheless.
Not for the faint of heart, but a worthwhile read, nonetheless.
A really interesting, although tragic story. Ms. Farmer's writing is a bit melodramatic, but for the most part she tells a heartwrenching, compelling story. It really made me want to get involved in mental health advocacy and I certainly hope patients are treated more humanely today.
It was hard to put this one down even though it was really depressing.
It was hard to put this one down even though it was really depressing.
I thought it was tragic that because this woman spoke her mind and wasn't willing to be the "little woman" she ended up being blocked away, and by her own mother. Maybe she had some mental problems but I believe that being locked up and given the treatments that she received made her mental illness worse than it really was.
“To have a good friend is the purest of all God's gifts, for it is a love that has no exchange of payment. It is not inherited, as with a family. It is not compelling, as with a child. And it has no means of physical pleasure, as with a mate. It is, therefore, an indescribable bond that brings with it a far deeper devotion than all the others.”
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12 likes
“For eight years I was an inmate in a state asylum for the insane. During those years I passed through such unbearable terror that I deteriorated into a wild, frightened creature intent only on survival. And I survived. I was raped by orderlies, gnawed on by rats and poisoned by tainted food. I was chained in padded cells, strapped into strait-jackets and half-drowned in ice baths. And I survived. The asylum itself was a steel trap, and I was not released from its jaws alive and victorious. I crawled out mutilated, whimpering and terribly alone. But I did survive.”
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4 likes
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