"The fights came when I thought she broke a promise. She said there's be an Indian reservation. She said that we'd see buffalo in Texas. My mother said a lot of things. We were driving from Bay City, Wisconsin, to California, so I could be a child star while I was still a child." (p. 3)

"Strangers almost always love my mother. and even if you hate her, can't stand her, even if she's ruining your life, there's something about her, some romance, some power. She's absolutely herself. No matter how hard you try, you'll never get to her. And when she dies, the world will be flat, too simple, reasonable, too fair." (p. 17)

"People come from all over the world for the Taliesin bells. We're lucky to have one. They're collector's items." I've heard my mother say that fifty times. She believed every word Gail Letterfine told us...