This Is Not My Beautiful Life

ONE OF PUBLISHERS WEEKLY'S TEN MOST ANTICIPATED MEMOIRS OF THE SEASON IF YOU THINK IT SUCKS TO LIVE WITH YOUR PARENTS WHEN YOURE THIRTY-SIX AND NINE MONTHS PREGNANT, JUST WAIT TILL THE DEA COMES KNOCKING (WITH THE IRS IN TOW) WELCOME TO VICTORIA FEDDENS LIFE. When a squad of federal agents burst through her parents front door, Victoria Fedden felt ill-prepared to meet them She was weeks away from her due date and her T-shirt wasnt long enough to hide her maternity undies. As for the question of how to raise a child when youve just discovered that your mother and stepfather have allegedly masterminded a pump-and-dump scheme?

She was pretty sure that wasnt covered in What to Expect When Youre Expectingand she really hoped that Bradford Cohen, the noted criminal defense attorney who famously waived his exemption on The Apprentice, would prove them innocent. This Is Not My Beautiful Life is the story of how Victoria lost her parents to prison and nearly lost her mind. No one ever said motherhood would be easy, but as she struggles to change diapers, install car seats, and find the right drop-off line at pre-schoolno easy task, when each one is named for a stage in the lifecycle of a f*cking butterflyshes also forced to ask herself whether a jump-suit might actually complement her moms platinum-blonde extensions and fend off the cast of shady, stranger-than-fiction characters (like the recovering addict who scored a reality show when he started an escort service for women) who populated her parents world.

A real-life Arrested Development that could only unfold in southern Florida, This Is Not My Beautiful Life is a hilariously funny and unexpectedly moving memoir of a just-functional family youll never forget.

Fedden received her MFA in Creative Writing from Florida Atlantic University. Her blog "Wide Lawns and Narrow Minds" was voted 2011's best Humor Blog by the South Florida Sun Sentinel,and her personal essays have been anthologized in I Still Just Want to Pee Alone, Scary Mommy's Guide to Surviving the Holidays, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and My Other Ex. She also regularly contributes to Elephant Journal, and her writing has appeared on Scary Mommy, Babble, and xoJane, among other blogs and websites.

She lives with her family in Fort Lauderdale.