Molly Jong-Fast
American author and pundit (born 1978)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Molly Jong-Fast (born 1978[1][2]) is an American journalist, novelist, and political commentator.[3][4][5][6]
- Journalist
- novelist
- political commentator
Molly Jong-Fast | |
|---|---|
 Jong-Fast in 2023 | |
| Born | August 1978 (age 47) Stamford, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Education | Bennington College (MFA) |
| Occupations |
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| Spouse |
Matthew Greenfield (m. 2003) |
| Children | 3 |
| Parents | |
| Relatives |
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Early life and education
Jong-Fast was born in August 1978 in Stamford, Connecticut,[7] to novelist Erica Jong and author Jonathan Fast.[1][8] She is the granddaughter of writer Howard Fast.[1] Her parents divorced during her childhood, and she was raised an only child[9] in Manhattan,[10] by a nanny whom Jong-Fast says essentially raised her as Catholic.[11] Her family is Jewish.[12]
Jong-Fast struggled with substance abuse as a teenager, spending a month in a drug rehabilitation facility at age 19.[2] She graduated from the Riverdale Country School and later attended Wesleyan University, Barnard College, and New York University, but did not graduate.[13] She obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree from Bennington College in 2004.[1]
Career
Jong-Fast is the author of two novels, Normal Girl[14][1][15] and The Social Climber's Handbook,[16] and three memoirs, Girl [Maladjusted],[17] The Sex Doctors in the Basement,[18][1][19][20] and How to Lose Your Mother.[21]
After the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Jong-Fast began focusing her writing on politics,[22] becoming a prominent left-wing political commentator during the first presidency of Donald Trump.[2] She became a regular contributor to The Forward,[23] The Bulwark,[24] Playboy,[25] Glamour,[26] and Vogue.[27] She has written for The New York Times, W, Cosmopolitan, Mademoiselle, Marie Claire, the Times of London, Elle, Modern Bride, and The Forward.[1]
In December 2019, Jong-Fast became an editor-at-large at The Daily Beast, hosting the podcast The New Abnormal.[28] In November 2021, she became a contributing writer at The Atlantic,[29] and the writer of its Wait, What? newsletter.[30] In 2022, she joined Vanity Fair as a special correspondent and began hosting the Fast Politics iHeartMedia podcast. In January 2024, she joined MSNBC as a political analyst.[31]
In 2025, Viking Books published Jong-Fast's third memoir, How to Lose Your Mother,[32] which became a New York Times Bestseller within three weeks.[33] A reviewer for The New York Times describes the book as "read[ing] like a score-settling marathon at times, but also like a loving elegy".[2] Novelist Martha McPhee wrote for The Washington Post that How to Lose Your Mother was a "transformative work of alchemy" with "lines so good you won't just want to underline them, you will want to cut them out to share".[3] Oprah Magazine called How to Lose Your Mother "hilarious and heartbreaking" and "the story of a singular mother-daughter relationship that will resonate with anyone who grew up playing second fiddle to a parent's passions."[34]
Publications
- Normal Girl[14]
- The Sex Doctors in the Basement: True Stories from a Semi-Celebrity Childhood[18]
- Girl [Maladjusted]: True Stories from a Semi-Celebrity Childhood[17]
- The Social Climber's Handbook: A novel[16]
- How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter's Memoir[32]
Personal life
In 2003, Jong-Fast married CUNY professor Matthew Adlai Greenfield.[35][36][37] They have three children.[38] She has written about her experience with Alcoholics Anonymous.[39]
Jong-Fast is a cousin of Lebanese-American political strategist Peter Daou.[40] As of 2007[update], she lives on the Upper East Side of New York City with her family.[10]
