The Second Seduction [Paperback]

Frances Lear (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1993

A successful New York career woman and founder of Lear's speaks frankly about her celebrated Hollywood producer husband; role as mother, activist, and journalist; alcoholism; childhood sexual abuse; manic depression; and more.

--This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Founder and editor-in-chief of Lear's magazine, the author had a horrific Dickensian childhood. Born to an unwed teenage mother and orphaned in infancy, she was traumatized by her adoptive father's suicide, her adoptive mother's unloving rigidity and years of incest with a stepfather. In a luminous, unsparingly candid account of one woman's triumph over destructive forces, Lear writes about her manic-depressive illness, three suicide attempts, recovery from alcoholism in her 60s, sexual affairs with women and men and three failed marriages. With husband number three, television producer Norman Lear, she felt like "a wife-of in Hollywood." She portrays him as overbearing but is otherwise tight-lipped about their relationship. This memoir, written in razor-sharp prose, tells how, against the odds, she carved out a sphere of personal freedom and creative independence. 100,000 first printing; Literary Guild alternate.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Lear certainly fits the reader profile of the magazine that bears her name: "the woman who wasn't born yesterday." Her life, recounted here, is jam packed with disastrous experience: abandonment at birth; adoption by an unmaternal woman and a man who soon after committed suicide; sexual abuse by a stepfather; and her own depression bouts (one leading to the Bellevue psych ward) intermingled with three marriages and forays into lesbianism. While Lear's first-person take on these events has its own peculiar power, it also has surprising and enormous gaps. There is little on Norman Lear, her most famous husband, or the magazine she launched from that divorce money. Still, while readers may expect other things from this autobiography, it will probably have curiosity value for fans of the magazine and could serve as a recovery book of sorts for those suffering from sexual abuse/depression. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/92.
- Judy Quinn, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 190 pages
• Publisher: Perennial (May 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060975490
• ISBN-13: 978-0060975494
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,247,732 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars insightful journey, April 23, 2002

By 

suzzinclaremont "suzzinclaremont" (Claremont, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Second Seduction (Hardcover)

Lear led a harrowing life that would have undone many of lesser mettle. I found her insights powerful on the effect unloving mothers and fathers have on their children and the subsequent victimization of those children by others (and their own selves). It deals with rough topics but the journey is worthwhile.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Inside look at depression, mania, and emotions...., February 26, 2010

By 

Michelle L. Devon "~~Professional Dreamer" (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Second Seduction (Paperback)

I loved this book years ago when it was given to me as a gift by a friend. I haven't read or seen or even thought about it in years, but I remembered one of the chapters the other day and went on a search to see if I could find the book. This was the only place I could find a copy! The writing is by the ex wife, now deceased, of Norman Lear, and she talks about everything in her life except her relationship with Lear. From depression to mania, from sexy to seductress to cutthroat business and rising above expectations. It's a poignant look into one of the most powerful women in her own industry, but more than that, it's written in such a way that it's thought-provoking and accessible.

She discusses her past, abuse, neglect, loneliness... and how those things still inform her present/future (though she is now deceased), and she talks also about dreams and hopes and aspirations.

I'm a fan of memoirs, in general, by those who can write well... this one is definitely at the top of my short list of favorite memoir-style books.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Growing Up Pains...., May 28, 2008

By 

T. Thayer "TashaLuv" (Conn.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

I hadn't read an entire book in quiet some time/Many Years,lol & I Never heard of this book or the author but I began reading it and I was "Hooked",it speaks of adoption,a mothers lack of Love,molestation,sex,bad relationships,lust,ect.and I enjoyed her life journey that many of us can relate too.For the small cost of this book I think it's worth it,the chapters are short & went bye fast enough to make the book go quickly too.
Sometimes we need to hear that we are Not the only ones who were hurt as children..