A revelatory book titled "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man" written by U.S. President Donald Trump's niece hit the shelves on Tuesday, after clearing legal hurdles that prevented its publishing.
The New York Supreme Court lifted on Monday a stay that temporarily blocked Mary Trump from publishing the tell-all book that offers an unflattering look of the U.S. president and his family.
Mary Trump is a trained psychologist, who holds a PhD from the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies and teaches graduate courses in trauma, psychopathology, and developmental psychology. She is Donald Trump's only niece.
In the book, the clinical psychologist describes the president as a lying narcissist who was shaped by his domineering father.
U.S. President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., July 13, 2020. /Reuters
"It shows that Trump is actually a psychopath, which is kind of the worst of the worst sociopaths," Barbara Moldauer, a customer who bought the book at a Washington, D.C bookstore, told AFP. She said that she bought the book because the author offers a family perspective.
"I think it is clear that Donald Trump is unqualified, incompetent and a total menace. And unfortunately, there seems to be a group of my countrymen who support him no matter what," Moldauer noted, adding that she hoped the book would "motivate people to go out and vote, which is what we need to do in November, and vote him out."
The publisher Simon & Schuster said that 75,000 first-run editions had already been sent to bookstores.
Stories told by 'a true insider'
This combination photo shows the cover art for "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man" and a portrait of author Mary L. Trump, PhD, the niece of President Donald J. Trump. The book was originally set for release on July 28, but will now arrive on July 14. /Simon & Schuster via AP
The book, originally scheduled for the end of July, has topped the Amazon best-seller list and attracted significant media coverage.
It includes a number of allegations about President Trump, including how his upbringing led to his worldview and the derision he showed his father after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, according to AP.
CNN called the work an "insightful, well-crafted memoir," while Vanity Fair said, "After many, many Trump books, this is an essential one."
"Mary's clarity, training, discipline and sharp eye help make her a reliable narrator, and she's a fluid, witty writer to boot … She's a true insider in an era when 'insider' accounts of the president are a dime-a-dozen – and that what she's written is likely to be indelible," read Bloomberg's review.
Mary Trump's first post on Twitter since 2018.
Robert Trump, the president's younger brother, tried to stop the publication of the book. He has previously said the scheduled July 28 release would violate a confidentiality agreement tied to the estate of his father Fred Trump Sr, who died in 1999.
Based on the agreement, Mary Trump, Fred Trump's granddaughter, is blocked from talking about family members publicly.
Justice Hal Greenwald of the state supreme court in Poughkeepsie, New York, denied the request to stop the book's publication, and canceled the temporary restraining order issued on June 30 against Mary Trump and her publisher Simon & Schuster at the request of Robert Trump.
After the court order, the author made her first post since 2018 on Twitter, saying: "Happy Infrastructure Week."
(Video edited by Hong Yaobin)