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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Clearly Roy Miller, a California tax attorney whose clients include Ronald and Nancy Reagan, is a professional success. But his family life is quite another story. In the picture presented by McDougal, his wife was an obsessive nutritionist and a smothering mother. Their older son, Jeff, who majored in religion at college, became a religious fanatic and, hospitalized for schizophrenia, committed suicide. Then an even greater tragedy struck when the younger son, Michael, raped and murdered his mother in 1983. Michael had been treated for schizophrenia for several years and, after a number of sanity hearings, was tried and found guilty but insane. He has been institutionalized for 10 years and his prognosis is dismal. McDougal ( Angel of Darkness ) had to fight for access to the court records, which had been sealed at the request of both the prosecution and the defense, one suspects because of the prominent figures involved. This is a compelling tale of the destruction of a family by mental illness. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Kirkus Reviews
An unsatisfying examination of the internal destruction of the family of Roy Miller, personal counsel to Ronald and Nancy Reagan. McDougal (Angel of Darkness, 1991) describes the mounting mental illnesses of Miller's two sons, culminating in Jeffrey's suicide and Michael's rape and murder of their mother, Marguerite. Roy Miller was a senior partner at the prestigious law firm of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, where he prepared the taxes of Governor, and later President, Reagan. An energetic homemaker, Marguerite was known for the strict health-food diet she maintained for her family. They were a successful couple who had high hopes for their sons. But after graduating from Dartmouth Jeffrey became fanatically involved in Christian fundamentalism, leading to intensive hypnotic deprogramming therapy with an organization whose owners were later arrested for fraud. Jeffrey was then committed to a mental institution, where he swallowed an entire bottle of aspirin and died in his sleep. Michael lived in his brother's shadow, was never accepted among his peers, and developed a strong attachment to his overbearing mother. He adopted her obsession with nutrition and pursued various food cures for his physical and mental problems, as well as hypnosis and biofeedback. His eccentricity gave way to madness by 1983 when, at 20, he clubbed his mother into unconsciousness, raped her, and left her to die. His confession led to his institutionalization at a California psychiatric hospital, where he remains. McDougal suggests that the odd mix of '70s California pop cures vigorously practiced by Marguerite and her sons at the very least intensified the boys' psychological problems. But otherwise, he concentrates on how, rather than why, the Millers became unhinged. We are also left wondering how someone presumably crafty enough to be chosen as the Reagans' tax lawyer could allow his sons to be shepherded from one quack to another. Often awkwardly written and frustratingly incomplete. (8 pages of photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Clearly Roy Miller, a California tax attorney whose clients include Ronald and Nancy Reagan, is a professional success. But his family life is quite another story. In the picture presented by McDougal, his wife was an obsessive nutritionist and a smothering mother. Their older son, Jeff, who majored in religion at college, became a religious fanatic and, hospitalized for schizophrenia, committed suicide. Then an even greater tragedy struck when the younger son, Michael, raped and murdered his mother in 1983. Michael had been treated for schizophrenia for several years and, after a number of sanity hearings, was tried and found guilty but insane. He has been institutionalized for 10 years and his prognosis is dismal. McDougal ( Angel of Darkness ) had to fight for access to the court records, which had been sealed at the request of both the prosecution and the defense, one suspects because of the prominent figures involved. This is a compelling tale of the destruction of a family by mental illness. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Kirkus Reviews
An unsatisfying examination of the internal destruction of the family of Roy Miller, personal counsel to Ronald and Nancy Reagan. McDougal (Angel of Darkness, 1991) describes the mounting mental illnesses of Miller's two sons, culminating in Jeffrey's suicide and Michael's rape and murder of their mother, Marguerite. Roy Miller was a senior partner at the prestigious law firm of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, where he prepared the taxes of Governor, and later President, Reagan. An energetic homemaker, Marguerite was known for the strict health-food diet she maintained for her family. They were a successful couple who had high hopes for their sons. But after graduating from Dartmouth Jeffrey became fanatically involved in Christian fundamentalism, leading to intensive hypnotic deprogramming therapy with an organization whose owners were later arrested for fraud. Jeffrey was then committed to a mental institution, where he swallowed an entire bottle of aspirin and died in his sleep. Michael lived in his brother's shadow, was never accepted among his peers, and developed a strong attachment to his overbearing mother. He adopted her obsession with nutrition and pursued various food cures for his physical and mental problems, as well as hypnosis and biofeedback. His eccentricity gave way to madness by 1983 when, at 20, he clubbed his mother into unconsciousness, raped her, and left her to die. His confession led to his institutionalization at a California psychiatric hospital, where he remains. McDougal suggests that the odd mix of '70s California pop cures vigorously practiced by Marguerite and her sons at the very least intensified the boys' psychological problems. But otherwise, he concentrates on how, rather than why, the Millers became unhinged. We are also left wondering how someone presumably crafty enough to be chosen as the Reagans' tax lawyer could allow his sons to be shepherded from one quack to another. Often awkwardly written and frustratingly incomplete. (8 pages of photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Inside This Book Citations: This book cites 23 books | 3 books that cite this book Explore: Citations | Concordance | Text Stats Key Phrases - CAPs: Palos Verdes, Roy Miller, Los Angeles, Michael Miller, Marguerite Miller (more) |