What I’m Reading: My Life So Far

My Life So Far, a 2005 memoir authored by Jane Fonda, is an autobiographical masterpiece. Jane Fonda takes the reader on her life journey sharing her mistakes and triumphs with honesty, humility, and depth. Unlike many celebrity autobiographies which skim the surface of their lives while glossing over embarrassing parts, Jane analyzes her life in a realistic, thorough way, often providing unflattering details of some of her choices.

My Life So Far starts from the beginning of Jane’s earliest childhood memories. Jane recalls in vivid detail an early childhood that seems to be blessed with prosperity and freedom. This is in stark contrast to Jane’s later teen years when she desperately tries to conform to the beauty standards of the day.

Jane’s seemingly hopeful childhood is cut short when her nuclear family is tragically ended. Unfortunately, her father, a successful movie actor, and her mother, a beautiful but fragile mom, were living their own dramas that did not center around Jane or her brother. In fact, Jane was mainly raised by nannies and her mother, who had a history of mental illness, became a depressed recluse who was incapable of being present for Jane. When Jane was just twelve years old her mother committed suicide in a mental institution. Jane’s father, Henry Fonda, meanwhile had moved onto another younger woman and was about to ask Jane’s mom for a divorce.

Henry Fonda ends up married five different times. He is aloof from Jane throughout her life and sends her to boarding school in New York for high school. Despite this, she loves him, and ends up following in his footsteps to be a movie star. She also follows in his footsteps in marrying multiple times and not being a religious person until much later in life. Jane’s life is full of literal theatrics and successes but also periods of self-reflection and change when she learns from the mistakes of her parents and is able to forgive them for their inability to show up for her.

Ultimately Jane organizes her life in this memoir into three acts based on her chronological age. The first act is her youth where Jane, like most young people, is trying to figure out who she is and where to go. This is a tough period for her due to the challenges of her background and the lack of guidance from any parental figures.

The second act is mid-life where she builds a life and a family and starts acknowledging changes (such as confronting and ending her bulimia) that must occur for her survival.

The third act is the final one in which she grows more present and must sacrifice her third and final marriage to actually be her true self, instead of just a companion to someone else. Though she still loves him, she has to leave for her own self-actualization when this third husband, Ted Turner, cannot accept the born-again Christian Jane who believes in a higher power that loves her and wants her to live a Christian life.

BOTTOM LINE: This autobiography is movingly written with much insight and candor into not only Jane’s life, but life in general. The author does a life review of where she came from so she can analyze where she is going. In some ways this book serves as an instructional guide on how to live one’s own life and determine the best paths to follow on one’s life journey.