If the author's goal in writing "Miss America Family" was to depress her readers with the synical rantings of a mentally ill former beauty queen and her dysfunctional family, she succeeded!I read this book in just 2 sittings as it is fairly large print and not excruciatingly long. I kept looking for the silver lining or the pot of gold to sweep away the dark cloud over the lives of these characters and never found them! For those who like dark journeys with no light at the end of the tunnel, I highly recommend"Miss America . . ." for the rest of you, pass on this one!