THE SECRET LIFE OF CYNDY GARVEY

by Cynthia & Andy Meisler Garvey ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 28, 1989

An extremely readable account of the pretenses and wishful thinking that shored up the facade of an ostensibly charmed life, by the former cohost of A.M. Los Angeles, ex-wife of baseball star Steve Garvey. After a childhood marred by her fighter-pilot father beating and yelling at his three children, Cynthia Truhan escapes to Michigan State, where she meets Steve Garvey, campus superjock. Although she finds him quiet and uncomfortable with physical affection (""aloof, distant, like my father""), Cynthia can't resist trying to get Steve to open up. Steve sharpens his baseball skills with Dodgers farm teams; when he's called up to the majors, the pair gets engaged. Cynthia's plans for medical school are shelved as the couple travels to Florida for spring training (where the other wives snub bookish Cynthia), and to Santo Domingo for winter ball. Although the newspapers can't get enough of the clean-cut couple, as Steve's star rises the marriage gets worse: he doesn't join his wife when she gives birth to their first child, and he rarely calls when he's on the road. But, meanwhile, Cynthia's discovering that she's telegenic; soon she becomes cohost of Regis Philbin's morning talk show. She also begins to look back on her childhood and recognize the damage caused by her father's abusive behavior. Rocky times follow, as Cynthia has an affair, confronts Steve's infidelity, and struggles to shake the bimbo aspect of her TV persona. Although Garvey's clear and admirable intention is to lay bare the lingering effects of emotional child abuse, many may find the odd snapshots of the codes and conventions of baseball society richer and more unexpected reading. And it's not the quasi-celeb status of the Garveys that matters here: this is most interesting as a compelling (if one-sided) portrait of a marriage unraveling.

Pub Date: July 28, 1989

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1989

Categories: NONFICTION