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My Life So Far
by Jane Fonda
Random House
ISBN 0-375-50710-8
Published April 2005 - Hardcover - 600 pages - $26.95

I've always wondered about Jane Fonda - her heritage, her life, her career, and herself in general.  Always portrayed in the press, in one form or another, one usually got the impression she was a bit bratish and just another child of a Hollywood star.  She's achieved so much and has gone through even more.  In this candid autobiography, she tells us how it was, and is.  From her mentally ill mother who committed suicide when Jane was just 12 years old, to her distant and emotionless father.  She describes her youth and growing up in California and Connecticut, her dad going off to war, what she perceives as discovering why she's like she is (and we can all learn a lesson or two here) and how she coped.  There are black and white photos from her childhood as well as throughout her life.  The book is divided into three segments - Acts One, Two, and Three.  As with many of us, we come to learn about ourselves late in life, and Ms. Fonda is no exception.  She goes into detail about her bulimia and anorexia and her constant belief that were she thin, she'd be perfect, and gives us a clear insight to what her famous father really was all about.  She also explains how she became involved in her activism and goes into detail about her "involvement in the Vietnam war" and the efforts she makes these days through her G-CAPP organization in Atlanta.  Not surprising, this book is bound to cause some controversy but it's highly illuminating and extremely interesting.  Now we can see where she was in her life by the films she made at the time.  Kinda now makes sense.
Conclusion - Very well worth reading.