The Friday Afternoon Club A Family Memoir

The instant New York Times bestseller
Named one of the Best Books of the Year by TIME, NPR, People, Town & Country, and Air Mail

“Warm and perceptive.” —New York Times

“Griffin Dunne knows how to tell a story.” —Washington Post

“Dunne is a prospector for the incandescent detail.” —Los Angeles Times

“What a remarkable and moving story filled with twists and turns, famous faces, and a complex family revealed with loving candor. I was blown away by Griffin Dunne’s life and his ability to capture so much of it in these beautifully written pages.” —Anderson Cooper

In Griffin Dunne’s memoir, he shares his experiences growing up amidst larger-than-life figures in Hollywood and Manhattan, finding humor and moments of light even in the most challenging times.

At the age of eight, Sean Connery saved him from drowning. At thirteen, eager to meet Janis Joplin, he attended his aunt Joan Didion and uncle John Gregory Dunne's iconic LA party for the launch of Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. By sixteen, he was expelled from boarding school, marking the end of his formal education. In his early twenties, he lived with his best friend and soulmate Carrie Fisher at Manhattan’s Hotel Des Artistes while she filmed Star Wars and he struggled as an actor working at Radio City Music Hall. A few years later, he produced and starred in the cult classic After Hours, directed by Martin Scorsese.

In the midst of it all, Griffin's twenty-two-year-old sister, Dominique, a rising Hollywood star, was tragically murdered by her ex-boyfriend, resulting in one of the most sensational public trials of the 1980s. The case’s unjust outcome propelled their father, Dominick Dunne, into a career as a crime reporter for Vanity Fair and a victims’ rights activist.

Despite the famous cast of characters and dramatic moments, The Friday Afternoon Club is not just another celebrity memoir. It is, at its core, a deeply personal family story—one that embraces the absurdities, the efforts of love, and the complexities of its unforgettable characters, especially the author himself.