than Christina’s, it became clear that Mommie Dearest offered at the least an overstated, skewed image of its subject. At its worst, it was a vituperative act of revenge after Joan excised her two oldest children from her will after many years of discord. “When Joan didn’t include [Christina] in her will,” according to Nolan Miller, one of Joan’s couturiers, “Christina wrote the book as a retaliation.” He was not alone in this opinion, which was shared by a legion of Joan’s friends—and by Joan’s adopted twins.4 The
