Happy Days: My Mother, My Father, My Sister & Me

By: Shana Alexander

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Synopsis: Acclaimed 60 Minutes commentator and true-crime author Shana Alexander turns her journalist&’s eye to her own unconventional family—and herself—in this fascinating, moving memoir Shana Alexander spent most of her life trying to figure out her enigmatic parents. Milton Ager was a famous songwriter whose creations included &“Ain&’t She Sweet&” and &“Happy Days Are Here Again.&” Cecelia Ager was a film critic and Variety columnist. They were a glamorous Jazz Age couple that moved in charmed circles with George and Ira Gershwin, Dorothy Parker, and Jerome Kern. They remained together for fifty-seven years, and yet they lived separate lives. This wise, witty, unflinchingly candid memoir is also a revealing account of Alexander&’s own life, from her successful career as a writer and national-news commentator to her troubled marriages and emotionally wrenching love affairs. She shares insights about growing up with a cold, hypercritical mother, her relationship with her younger sister, the suicide of her adopted daughter, and her reconciliation with her parents after a twenty-year estrangement. &“I had to do a lot of detective work to uncover the truth about my parents&’ lives,&” Alexander said. &“I knew almost nothing about them as people. But by the end they really did become my best friends.&”