After Perfect

A Daughter's Memoir

By: Christina McDowell

Narrated by: Christina McDowell

In the tradition of New York Times best sellers What Remains by Carole Radziwill and Oh the Glory of It All by Sean Wilsey, Christina McDowell's unflinching memoir is a brutally honest, cautionary tale about one family's destruction in the wake of the Wall Street implosion.

Christina McDowell was born Christina Prousalis. She had to change her name to be legally extricated from the trail of chaos her father, Tom Prousalis, left in the wake of his arrest and subsequent imprisonment as one of the guilty players sucked into the collateral fallout of Jordan Belfort (the "Wolf of Wall Street"). Christina worshipped her father and the seemingly perfect life they lived...a life she finds out was built on lies. Christina's family, as is typically the case, had no idea what was going on.

Nineteen-year-old Christina drove her father to jail while her mother dissolved in denial. Since then Christina's life has been decimated. As her family floundered in rehab, depression, homelessness, and loss, Christina succumbed to the grip of alcohol, drugs, and promiscuity before finding catharsis in the most unlikely of places. From the bucolic affluence of suburban Washington, DC, to the A-list clubs and seedy underbelly of Los Angeles, this provocative memoir unflinchingly describes the harsh realities of a fall from grace. Full of '90s nostalgia and access to the inner circles of the Washingtonian societal elite, Christina McDowell's beautiful memoir is a Blue Jasmine story from a daughter's perspective.

©2015 Christina McDowell (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Great story

Such a sincere true story of the families that suffer behind the Wall Street greed. Beautifully and honestly written. Highly recommend!

Terrible narration

The performance was terrible. Monotone, boring and ruined the story for me. The content and material are great if you can get past the horrible narrative.

FAR too much name-dropping

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Not really. I thought I would read about introspection, but it was all about the glitzy perfect life with celebrities that poor Christina and her family had to give up. She portrays herself at completely naive, while still portraying the good life and all the name brands she can fit into the book.

Any additional comments?

I hoped for MUCH more from this book. Perhaps the Amazon reviews made it out to be better than it was, but I wasultimately disappointed.

It belongs in Oprah's Book Club

One of those true-life stories that reads like a novel. The life lessons Christina learned through her tragedy transformed her into a soulful being, which is how this life story (which peripherally ties to the Wolf of Wall Street movie) becomes inspirational. Among Christina's virtues, which I agree is a Carole Radziwill style, is her voice. At first I found it monotone, but realized later her tuneless opening was intentional, creating a stark/more realistic backdrop to the life of riches that should have been exciting. Her lilt develops as the book goes on, and it is probably the best reading of a book I have heard...she has a gorgeous, hypnotic voice. The book is a great story for anyone, but particularly for the successful, where it is easy at times to forget that the pursuit of business victories and the material rewards that result can mask the real lessons people are put on this earth to learn.

Wow

Literally did not want to get out of my car listening to
This. A must listen.