High On Arrival
by Mackenzie Phillips
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Book Summary Information
Author: Mackenzie PhillipsEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-09-23
ISBN: 143915385X
Number of pages: 292
Publisher: Gallery Books
Book Reviews of High On Arrival
Book Review: Not California Dreaming - This is the Real Deal!
Summary: 5 Stars
MacKenzie Phillips has taken a very brave stand in writing this very painful, difficult memoir. Sadly, incest is an atrocity that is often covered up and survivors of incest fear blame, censure at best and not being believed at worst. There is also the matter of trust issues as trust is severely impaired for incest survivors.
MacKenzie Phillips had a rock 'n' roll life from the start. Born on November 10, 1959, MacKenzie was at the helm of the Rock & Roll scene as she was the daughter of Papa John Phillips of the Mamas & Papas fame. Beyond the idyllic songs such as 1965 (released in early 1966) "California Dreaming," and 1967's "Dream a Little Dream of Me," you hear shattered dreams and raw, painful, throbbing emotions in MacKenzie's words. Her pain becomes YOUR pain as you walk down her Trail of Tears. You want her to arrive safely.
As a child I loved the Mamas & Papas and do today. Their music remains a delightful staple in my life. However, knowing now what we do about John Phillips and his gross mistreatment of his own daughter as well as his lackadaisical parenting style, I can never look at him or think of him in the same way I did prior to MacKenzie's disclosure.
MacKenzie's mother, January and brother were featured in a TV biopic a few years prior to the release of this book. They both confirmed that when the children (MacKenzie and her brother) were staying with their father, he had only two rules: 1) change your clothes every day and 2) be home before sunrise. In other words, there were no boundaries, no rules, no curfews.
I saw MacKenzie on Oprah! in 2009 and several years earlier, I saw her biography featured on TV in relation to her tenure on "One Day at a Time" (1975-1984). She played the least favored daughter, Julie Cooper, the party girl. Her character was typecast even in this popular sitcom. Her time on that show was cut short in 1980-81 due to her escalating drug abuse issues. During that time period, her house burned down. MacKenzie literally had to start from scratch.
I believe MacKenzie. I have known other survivors of rape/incest and her account is all too painfully credible. Despite her problems, they all seem to be functional - a reaction in the face of extreme turmoil, trauma, confusion and crisis. MacKenzie was exposed to drug use and sexual behavior from the time she was a very young child. Having been the survivor of statutory rape from a famous rock star with her father's permission only fueled the fire of her pain, trauma and confusion about what consitutes normal sexual behavior.
As another U.S. reviewer brilliantly stated, "she had with her interview with Oprah was revealing in itself: nobody would go out in public and tell such stories if they weren't true. Her book is searingly honest and hard to read, but very brave." That was my impression then and now. MacKenzie is like a Phoenix. She was thrown into the fire, but emerged renewed and whole. She was also blessed with her son, Shane Jr. and he had a lot to do with her eventual recovery. I think MacKenzie survived and hung tough DESPITE her stint in rehab where the clients were degraded and treated like dirt and not BECAUSE of it. MacKenzie has a core of strength. She is David fighting twin Goliaths: the Goliath of her late father's image and the Goliath of intolerance and naysayers where sexual abuse/incest are concerned.
This book is not for the faint hearted. It is for the tender hearted and compassionate, for those who want to glean a better understanding of how sick sexual dynamics enter a relationship where they have no place and don't belong. John Phillips' life behind closed doors clashed radically with his outward appearance of a Dodge Dart Era hippie, musician, folk-rocker and front man of a highly successful and wonderful band. His feet of clay are exposed in the fact that he DID carry out a decade-long incestous relationship with MacKenzie; he DID look the other way when she spent the night with another rock star while still underage; he DID teach her how to shoot up and what to look for in street drugs. The whole thing is not only shocking; it is very sad. MacKenzie's drug use/abuse was most likely an emotional anesthetic to keep the hellish experiences she suffered at bay. That is not uncommon among sexual abuse survivors, whether it is rape or incest, which is a form of rape.
I wish only the best for MacKenzie and thank her for bravely coming out with her story. By taking these giant steps forward, no doubt she will help others on their road to healing and disclosure and self discovery as well.
Peace, MacKenzie.
Summary of High On Arrival
?A raw glimpse? (Entertainment Weekly) into her lifelong battle with personal demons and near-fatal addictions?and reveals the shattering truth behind her complex, secretive, and damaging history with her father, the legendary John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas.Not long before her fiftieth birthday, Mackenzie Phillips made headlines with her arrest for drug possession at Los Angeles International Airport; the actor-musician-mother had been on her way to a reunion of One Day at a Time, the hugely popular ?70s sitcom on which she once starred as the lovable rebel Julie Cooper.
Born into rock-and-roll royalty, flying in Learjets to the Virgin Islands at five, making pot brownies with Donovan at eleven, Mackenzie grew up in an all-access kingdom of hippie freedom and heroin cool. As a rising Hollywood star herself, she joined the nonstop party in the hedonistic pleasure dome of her father?s making, and a rapt TV audience watched as Julie Cooper wasted away before their eyes. By the time Mackenzie discovered how deep and dark her father?s trip was going, it was too late.
As an adult, she has paid dearly for a lifetime of excess, working tirelessly to reconcile her wonderful, terrible past and the pull of her magnetic father. By sharing her journey toward redemption and peace, the star who turned up High on Arrival has finally come back down to earth?to stay.
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