Damaged People: A Memoir of Fathers and Sons

The son of renowned author Joe McGinniss—celebrated for works like The Selling of the President and true crime blockbusters Fatal Vision and Cruel Doubt—delivers a raw and deeply moving memoir that explores the complicated bonds between fathers and sons, set against a backdrop of fame, addiction, and the relentless pursuit of redemption.

Joe McGinniss was a paradox: a brilliant writer whose dazzling achievements were overshadowed by personal demons. At age twenty-six, he became the youngest living person to top the New York Times bestseller list, for his book The Selling of the President about Richard Nixon’s 1968 campaign. Shortly after, he walked out on his wife and their three young children.

His oldest son, Joe McGinniss Jr., went on to become a writer himself, known for his critically acclaimed novels The Delivery Man and Carousel Court. In the memoir Damaged People, McGinniss Jr. vividly recounts his affectionate yet stormy relationship with his famous father, capturing moments of tenderness and humor amid the chaos and tension.

The prosaic commitments of full-time fatherhood held little appeal for Joe McGinniss, a superstar author who proudly relished the freedom to chase stories anywhere his curiosity led. He rose to prominence with a trilogy of true crime blockbusters in the 1980s and early ’90s, Fatal Vision, Blind Faith, and Cruel Doubt. Notoriously, he found himself the subject of Janet Malcom’s The Journalist and the Murderer, a book accusing him of manipulating one of his subjects. Controversy would dog the rest of his journalistic career, as he was accused of falsifying details in his 1993 biography of Ted Kennedy and his 2011 biography of Sarah Palin. His life was a turbulent mix of success and scandal, marked by alcoholism, depression, and an obsessive dedication to his craft that often left his family struggling to stay afloat.

Now a father raising a son of his own, McGinniss Jr. wrestles with the legacy of his upbringing and his father’s self-destruction, striving to create a stable and nurturing environment for his child. The pressures of modern parenting—ranging from competitive school admissions to the mental health challenges that today’s youth face—force him to confront long-buried demons of ambition and obsession. Damaged People dives deep into the heartbreak of unfulfilled expectations and the beauty of second chances, offering an unflinching look at what it means to grow into a more compassionate and present parent.

Bringing a novelist’s storytelling skills to this deeply personal story, McGinniss Jr. delivers a poignant tale of grace, resilience, and growth, showing us that even in the face of fractured relationships, there’s hope for healing and a brighter future.