I resisted reading this book for a very long time. I didn’t want to read a hatchet job, even if it was about someone I don’t like. But I’ve seen interviews on television with Mary Trump, Donald Trump’s niece and a Ph.D. in psychology. She seems like a reliable source, and with the extreme actions Trump has taken since starting his second term as president, I really need to understand him better.

In chapter one, Ms. Trump describes Donald’s childhood with the utmost of empathy. Nine months after the birth of Donald’s youngest brother, Robert, his mother was found in the bathroom, bleeding and unresponsive. Undiagnosed postpartum complications had taken their toll. An abdominal infection, emergency hysterectomy, and severe osteoporosis required a long recovery. Mrs. Trump (whose first name was also Mary) was in and out of the hospital for six months, and never the same thereafter. Donald was two and a half years old.

Donald’s father, Fred, did not step up to take his wife’s place during her debility. His focus remained on his rental properties; child care was women’s work. They had a housekeeper, but she had her hands full taking care of the house. Donald’s oldest sibling Maryanne, twelve years old, took care of the youngest boys when she came home from school. So, Donald and Robert were essentially abandoned during a particularly vulnerable time in their development.

Fred Trump didn’t take much interest in his five children, except for Freddy, the oldest boy, whom he expected to eventually take over Trump’s real estate empire. Freddy was seven years older than Donald, and the younger boy had ample opportunity to observe the dynamics between father and oldest son. Fred tried to train Freddy to be a “killer,” a shrewd manipulator, a demeanor Fred considered necessary for success in business.

Freddy, however, was good natured, well-liked by his peers, not at all hard-hearted. Though he tried very hard to please his father, Fred was never satisfied with his efforts. He verbally and emotionally abused his oldest son, yelling at him, berating him, calling him names. Little Donald looked on and absorbed that to earn his father’s love, he had to be more like Dad and less like Freddy. He became a challenging, disobedient, and rude child, and joined in on taunting his older brother.

Eventually Fred turned his sights away from Freddy and onto Donald. Mary Trump details Donald’s ineptness at business . . . oh, am I giving too much away?

Too Much and Never Enough is a revealing look at the forces that molded Donald Trump into the man we see today. Does Mary Trump have axes to grind? Of course. Nevertheless, she gives a balanced accounting of what she herself has observed, and what she learned from diligent interviews with eye-witnesses and from studying various relevant documents. You will be able to tell when she is protesting her own and her brother’s treatment at Donald’s hands, and when she is fairly reporting and evaluating Donald’s actions. If you didn’t read this book when it came out in 2020, and you are an American citizen or a person who wants to know what makes Donald tick, there is no better time than right now to get your hands on this book. It’s subtitled How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man, and Mary Trump explains why she calls Donald that.