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The Friday Afternoon Club
The instant New York Times bestseller!
“Warm and perceptive.” —New York Times
“Griffin Dunne knows how to tell a story." —Washington Post
"Dunne is a prospector for the incandescent detail.” —Los Angeles Times
“What a remarkable and moving story filled with twists and turns, the most famous of faces, and a complex family revealed with loving candor. I was blown away by Griffin Dunne’s life and his ability to capture so much of it in these beautifully written pages.” —Anderson Cooper
Griffin Dunne’s memoir of growing up among larger-than-life characters in Hollywood and Manhattan finds wicked humor and glimmers of light in even the most painful of circumstances
At eight, Sean Connery saved him from drowning. At thirteen, desperate to hook up with Janis Joplin, he attended his aunt Joan Didion and uncle John Gregory Dunne’s legendary LA launch party for Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. At sixteen, he got kicked out of boarding school, ending his institutional education for good. In his early twenties, he shared an apartment in Manhattan’s Hotel Des Artistes with his best friend and soulmate Carrie Fisher while she was filming some sci-fi movie called Star Wars and he was a struggling actor working as a popcorn concessionaire at Radio City Music Hall. A few years later, he produced and starred in the now-iconic film After Hours, directed by Martin Scorsese. In the midst of it all, Griffin’s twenty-two-year-old sister, Dominique, a rising star in Hollywood, was brutally strangled to death by her ex-boyfriend, leading to one of the most infamous public trials of the 1980s. The outcome was a travesty of justice that marked the beginning of their father Dominick Dunne’s career as a crime reporter for Vanity Fair and a victims' rights activist.
And yet, for all its boldface cast of characters and jaw-dropping scenes, The Friday Afternoon Club is no mere celebrity memoir. It is, down to its bones, a family story that embraces the poignant absurdities and best and worst efforts of its loveable, infuriating, funny, and moving characters—its author most of all.
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Reviews
A good engaging read. Steady, captivating and enough to keep me coming back. Never riveting just an entertaining read. Gave me good insight to the life of people in Hollywood,
By thiskatydid
Griffin Dunne has written a captivating, entertaining, often humorous memoir of growing up in a Hollywood family, trying to navigate a career as an actor, and family tragedy. He drops many famous names, but not in a self-aggrandizing, “fame by association” manner. But, rather, matter-of-factly, in the context of humorous vignettes. A significant, but not burdensome portion of the book deals candidly with the family tragedy. And his writing style is an excellent tribute to his journalistic family.
By RZelnio
If you’re a fan of Griffin or any of his family you will enjoy this warm and funny story.
By Parks FTL
I’ve read quite a few celebrity memoirs and this one will stand out as the best of the best. It had all of the necessary ingredients; heart, humor, triumph, tragedy and profound sadness. I found myself laughing out loud and crying as he outlines his life from toddler to adult in prose that made it impossible to put down. Thank you, Griffin Dunn for this wonderful and captivating book!
By Jersey Shore Girl 1014
Griffin Dunne tells his story to the reader as if he is sitting and talking to you over a beer or two. He has an endless supply of stories, some funny, some wild, and some tragic. He delivers all of them with flare and fascination.
By Sparkkler