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Molly Jong-Fast

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Molly Jong-Fast
Jong-Fast in 2023
Born (1978-08-19) August 19, 1978 (age 46)
Stamford, Connecticut
EducationBarnard College (BA)
Bennington College (MFA)
Occupation(s)Writer, editor
Spouse
Matthew Greenfield
​
(m. 2003)​
Children3
Parent(s)Erica Jong
Jonathan Fast
RelativesHoward Fast (grandfather)

Molly Jong-Fast (born August 19, 1978[1]) is an American writer, journalist, author, political commentator, and podcaster.

Early life

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Jong-Fast was born on August 19, 1978 in Stamford, Connecticut,[2] to novelist Erica Jong[3] and author Jonathan Fast, and the granddaughter of writer Howard Fast.[4] She was raised in a Jewish family, though she has mentioned that her nanny "raised [her] Catholic," despite not partaking in the sacraments.[5] Her parents divorced during her childhood, and she was raised as an only child.[6] Jong-Fast struggled with substance abuse as a teenager, becoming alcoholic and addicted to cocaine. After going to rehab at age 19, she has remained sober for 27 years as of May 2025.[7]

Jong-Fast graduated from the Riverdale Country School and attended Barnard College before earning a Master of Fine Arts degree from Bennington College in 2004.[8][9]

Career

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Jong-Fast is the author of two novels, Normal Girl[10] and The Social Climber's Handbook,[11], a memoir, Girl [Maladjusted],[11] and The Sex Doctors in the Basement.[12][13]

After the 2016 election, Jong-Fast began focusing her writing on politics.[14] She became a regular contributor to The Forward,[15] The Bulwark,[16] Playboy,[17] Glamour,[18] and Vogue.[19]

In December 2019, Jong-Fast became an editor-at-large at The Daily Beast, hosting the podcast The New Abnormal.[20][9]

In November 2021, Jong-Fast became a contributing writer at The Atlantic,[21] and the writer of The Atlantic's Wait, What? newsletter.[22]

In 2022, Jong-Fast joined Vanity Fair as a special correspondent and began hosting the Fast Politics iHeart Media podcast.

In January 2024, Jong-Fast joined MSNBC as a political analyst.[23]

Kirkus Reviews has described her as "the Joan Rivers for slackers".[13]

Personal life

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In 2003, Jong-Fast married CUNY professor Matthew Adlai Greenfield,[24][25] to whom she has said she is "distantly related."[26] They have three children.[27] Jong-Fast is a cousin of Lebanese-American political strategist Peter Daou[28] and has written about her experience with Alcoholics Anonymous.[29]

Publications

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  • Normal Girl (2000). ISBN 0-37-575759-7
  • The Sex Doctors in the Basement: True Stories from a Semi-Celebrity Childhood (2005). ISBN 1-40-006144-X.
  • Girl [Maladjusted]: True Stories from a Semi-Celebrity Childhood (2006). ISBN 0-81-297074-8
  • The Social Climber's Handbook: A novel (2011). ISBN 0-34-550189-6
  • How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter's Memoir (2025). ISBN 0-59-365647-4

References

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  1. ^ Templin, Charlotte, ed. (2002). Conversations with Erica Jong. University Press of Mississippi. p. xxi. ISBN 978-1-57806-510-3.
  2. ^ Jong-Fast, Molly (June 8, 2025). "My mother was a famous feminist writer known for her candour and wit. But she was also a fantasist who couldn't be bothered to spend time raising me". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved June 14, 2025.
  3. ^ Pressler, Jessica (June 3, 2011). "Fear of Talking About Sex". Intelligencer. New York Magazine. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
  4. ^ Jong-Fast, Molly (February 26, 2019). "My Mother's Daughter". New York Review of Books. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  5. ^ Jong-Fast, Molly (2006). "Tell Me About Your Mother". In Ellenson, Ruth Andrew (ed.). The Modern Jewish Girl's Guide to Guilt. New York: Plume. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-452-28748-8. I guess I should give you a little family history. We are Jews.
  6. ^ "Why Molly Jong-Fast wrote about the sex life of her famous mother, Erica Jong". The Current. CBC Radio. March 6, 2019. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  7. ^ Alter, Alexandra (May 31, 2025). "The Devastating Book Erica Jong Always Knew Her Daughter Would Write". The New York Times. Retrieved June 5, 2025. Now 46 years old and 27 years sober, Ms. Jong-Fast has escaped from her mother's long shadow and become a quasi-celebrity in her own right. As a teenager, Ms. Jong-Fast started drinking heavily and did "mountains of cocaine." When she was 19, she told her mother she needed to go to rehab. In her memoir, she describes how Ms. Jong at first said she was being melodramatic before agreeing she needed help. Shortly after, mother and daughter flew to Minnesota, where Ms. Jong-Fast spent a month at a rehab facility.
  8. ^ Roug, Louise (September 10, 2001). "She's Her Mother's Daughter, but Her Life's Plot Is All Her Own". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Molly Jong-Fast". Retrieved April 10, 2022 – via LinkedIn.
  10. ^ Rosenfeld, Lucinda (July 16, 2000). "Sex, Drugs, Etc". Books. The New York Times.
  11. ^ a b Webster, Camilla (May 6, 2011). "The Social Climber's Handbook: The Murderous State of Womanhood". Forbes. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  12. ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: The Sex Doctors in the Basement: True Stories from a Semi-Celebrity Childhood by Molly Jong-Fast". Publishers Weekly. April 1, 2005. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  13. ^ a b "The Sex Doctors in the Basement". Kirkus Reviews. January 1, 2005. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  14. ^ Grynbaum, Michael M. (November 6, 2022). "How Molly Jong-Fast Tweeted Her Way to Liberal Media Stardom". The New York Times.
  15. ^ "Molly Jong-Fast". The Forward. Retrieved June 6, 2025.
  16. ^ "Articles by Molly Jong-Fast". The Bulwark. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  17. ^ "Molly Jong-Fast: Playboy Contributing Editor". Playboy. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  18. ^ "Molly Jong-Fast". Glamour. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  19. ^ "Molly Jong-Fast". Vogue. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  20. ^ "'The New Abnormal' Hosts Molly Jong-Fast & Andy Levy Ask and Answer 20 Stupid Questions". The Daily Beast. December 26, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  21. ^ "Molly Jong-Fast". The Atlantic. Retrieved June 6, 2025.
  22. ^ "Wait, What?". The Atlantic. Retrieved June 6, 2025.
  23. ^ "MSNBC Author Molly Jong-Fast". MSNBC.
  24. ^ Grossman, Anna Jane (March 3, 2003). "Countdown to Bliss: Matthew Greenfield and Molly Jong-Fast". Observer. New York. Retrieved March 3, 2003.
  25. ^ "Weddings/Celebrations; Molly Jong-Fast, Matthew Greenfield". The New York Times. November 2, 2003. Retrieved November 2, 2003.
  26. ^ Jong-Fast, Molly (June 3, 2025). "Molly Jong-Fast on Human Frailty and Unlearning Erica Jong's Lessons". Lit Hub. Retrieved June 7, 2025.
  27. ^ Richardson, Davis (June 6, 2019). "Molly Jong-Fast Throws the Perfect Dinner Party for Political Operatives, Pundits, and Upper East Side Princesses". Interview. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  28. ^ Klion, David (December 3, 2019). "What Happened to Peter Daou?". The New Republic. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  29. ^ Jong-Fast, Molly (August 26, 2020). "I Won't Drink Today, and I Won't Get the Virus Today". The Atlantic. Retrieved June 6, 2025.

Further reading

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