The daughter of John Phillips (The Mamas and the Papas) and famous for her starring role as Julie on the 80s sitcom One Day At A Time, Mackenzie Phillips is the epitome of the rock and roll lifestyle. Raised by a hippie father in a California party-scene culture, young Mack grew up around rock and roll stars and their opiates of choice. It's no wonder that she chose that same path for herself, especially when her own starring role landed her a steady paycheck to pay for her self-indulgent excesses. The true wonder is that she's alive to tell her tale.High On Arrival is a journey through her life - the drugs, the men, her acting career, the incestual relationship with her father, the rehabs. For all the justifications in her book, the bottom line remains that her father clearly abused his position of trust and authority, which only caused this young woman to spiral further out of control. A few years after the birth of her son, Shane, Phillips did eventually mark 15 years of sobriety, but found herself at rock bottom once more, culminating in her infamous 2008 arrest at LAX.
Today, this woman is again post-rehab and vows to never again become complacent about her addiction or her past. The book is well-written, with the sad ring of truth of a survivor. I wish Ms. Phillips all the luck in the world maintaining her hard-won sobriety.
2 comments:
I saw an E! True Hollywood story on her and it was really fasicinating. I'd like to read this book someday. Certainly has an interesting life.
One wonders what causes father to abuse the built in trust that is supposed to bond a father and daughter, as opposed to bond a father and a daughter. I'm even more surprised that the Disney Co. uses the song "California Dreaming" as background music at their California Adventures theme park. I'm guessing they don't know what John Phillips was dreaming about when he wrote the song as he was abusing his daughter.
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