A Mother, a Daughter and a Memoir - An Abbreviated Life

 By Richard Horgan on Jul. 2, 2016 -Fishbowl NY

Ariel Leve cut off communication with her mother three years ago. But the New York-based journalist did reach out recently via Skype, while traveling abroad, to inform mom that her memoir An Abbreviated Life was forthcoming. The book arrived June 14.

That’s just one of many fascinating details in this weekend’s interview of Leve by Jon Ronson for The Guardian. Leve writes in the book that she endured and survived a contentious upbringing on the Upper East Side with her eccentric, famous mom. She tells Ronson that without some recent EMDR therapy, she probably would have been unable to write the memoir.

Leve does not cite her famous mother by name in the book and asked Ronson to do the same in the article (he agreed). After sitting down with the author, Ronson made contact with the mother, despite Leve’s preference that he not do so. He spoke to mom via telephone a few days after the book’s U.S. publication and then her paid a visit on the Upper East Side:   MORE