Foster Child: A Biography of Jodie Foster

by Buddy Foster and Leon Wagener

Book Overview

A biography by Jodie Foster's brother reveals their joint travails as children of divorce and Hollywood, and her subsequent rise to the pinnacle of Hollywood success and his own decline into drugs. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525941436
• ISBN13: 9780525941439
• Release Date: May 1997
• Publisher: Dutton Books
• Length: 278 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Entertaining & revealing

Like with most public figures, reading about the growth path of this talented star was enjoyable. Written by her brother, a public figure himself, was well done and informative. The perspective is unique and comes across as "telling it like it was".

Far better than what the first two reviews say

I read this book, and I read "The Royals" by Kitty Kelly. There is all the difference in the world between the two books. The first is an unpleasant book written by an unpleasant woman, which uses second and third hand gossip who has nothing but contempt for its subject matter. "Foster Child," on the other hand, has a great deal of respect for the woman at its core, which does not stop it from dwelling on her weaknesses, as any good biography should. Those familiar with what is known about Jodie Foster will find few real surprises. It is generally known, for instance, that she is frightenly intelligent; and that she has, with one or two exceptions, never acted in or directed a movie she didn't really want to do, but once committed devotes herself wholeheartedly. It also been surmised that in terms of a love life, she looks at the person and not the gender; a common trait with highly educated, irreligious people. That she is understandably guarded with her privacy, that she does not suffer fools gladly, or that she has something of a cold streak personally, do not come as a surprise either. All of these are elaborated on in this book. What is particularly germaine in the book is Buddy's revelations of the Foster family, a high strung, tumultuous family if there ever was one. Speaking first hand, we have his account of the wars between the ambitious mother of the Foster brood, Brandy, and their USAF officer father Lucius. They divorced while Brandy was pregnant with Jodie, but they had several break-and-smash reunions afterward. Buddy's respect for his sister particularly shines in the analysis he gives her movies, notably her directorial efforts "Little Man Tate" and "Home for the Holidays." He comes out understanding the latter film better than most of the critics did. While reading this, I could feel the disapproving eyes of Ms. Foster over my shoulder, and I'm sure Buddy is to this day subject to his sister's shunning. I'm sure, as well, that the onetime Mayberry actor wrote the book for some needed money. (Buddy fesses up well to his own professional and personal failings.) But the resultant book is by no means a tabloid effort, and due to it I have come to a better appreciation of this unique lady and talent his sister is.

Amazing life story.

I was shocked to read such negative reviews of this book. The historical background and her family experiences were not only extremely interesting, and accurate (since her brother, who wrote the book, saw all of this first-hand), but also has made me respect and admire this wonderful actress even more. There is nothing slanderous in the book, and nothing that Jodie seemingly would be ashamed to tell herself. The book merely retells the life that she grew up in. Fascinating. My whole family read the book, one after the other. Our edition is falling apart after so much use. I highly recommend this book. Perhaps the best biography I have ever read.

well written biography

I know a lot of people came down on Buddy Foster for writing this book. However this biography is a much more mature piece of work than the usual celeb bio. A good read

well written, easy reading about a famous FAMILY

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. My son spiked my curiosty regarding Ms. Foster, so I bought brother Buddy's book, expecting it to be a tell-all biography of only one Foster. This book should truly have been titled, "The Foster Family". It is not an exclusive on Jodie Foster. It deals more with family dyamics, sibling rivalry, sibling defeats and accomplishments. While Jodie is the central spindle around which this book revolves, there are truly 4 Foster Children. I appreciated the way in which Mr. Foster writes about his very capable and famous sister; however, he incorporates family anecdotes for all family members. Still, there are many insights to glean about Jodie from his book . As a reader puts the book down when finished, he/she will have a much better sense of what makes these talented and gifted people tick, with emphasis on Jodie!Very readable and well written. Maintains a reader's attention throughout. A "can't put down" book for any Jodie fan!Thank you, Buddy and family!