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Jackson Family Values: Memories of Madness
In this tell-all, Margaret chronicles her life as part of the Jackson family. During the eight years that she stayed with Jermaine as his common law wife and mother of their two children, Margaret discovered who Jermaine and the Jacksons really were. This is her take on the Jackson family. Simultaneous hardcover release from Dove. 2 cassettes.
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First published November 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 12, 2018
Anybody who read La Toya's La Toya: Growing Up in the Jackson Family will notice the similarities between the two books; a great deal of Maldanado's book serves as a confirmation of some of La Toya's revelations about her family, The Jacksons. Now, before discussing the book itself, one must put one thing in mind that it was published in 1995; this is Maldanado's truth, and her recollections of what she called her mad years living with the Jacksons in their Hayvenhurst House in Encino, California, as Jermaine's common law wife and a mother of two of his children. This is indeed a one-sided account with obvious glossing over some of Maldanado's personal words and actions; it could pretty much be her comeback at Jermaine for what they've gone through.
Jackson Family Values: Memories of Madness reads smoothly (I finished it within two busy days), and cuts down to the chase from the very first chapter –although there are some parts that feels missing or more appropriately glossed over but that doesn't affect much of the actual loaded content. Maldanado's exposé is directed specifically at the Jackson men (excluding Michael) in which she details their long and disturbing history of infidelities and abusive (mental & physical) behaviors towards the women in their lives. However, she doesn't hesitate to disclose some information about Katherine and the rest of the Jackson women. Katherine is portrayed as a passive-aggressive kind of person, although Maldanado sympathizes with her, she insists that she could've and should've done so much more than covering up for her husband and sons (excluding Michael).*
Nothing within these pages came as a surprise to me because when you're a life-long Michael Jackson fan you've heard it all about these aspects, Michael himself gave a few informative accounts including the verbal and physical abuse but it's still a sobering read that clarifies the reason why Michael distanced himself from the family. Maldanado confirms that although Michael was no longer associating with the Jacksons as he used to, he was still financing all of their expenses to which he gladly obliged. She states that Jermaine was living off of Michael's money and fame. According to her, when Tito and his late-wife broke apart due to her walking in to see him with another women, Tito unapologetically took off without providing any financial support for his young three children which given the then-circumstances, it would result in them having to leave school. When Michael heard of that he stepped in, “paid for all of them to go through Buckley,” and also funded their college education (p. 89).
And this was the case with almost everything and everyone else. Michael Jackson always saved the day.
Maldanado discusses the famous rift that happened because of the dis track that Jermaine wrote about his brother, Michael, and the confrontation that occurred.** Michael had only one haunting question to ask Jermaine –who was, according to Maldanado, unapologetic to the degree of extreme rudeness– “I'm your brother. How could you write something like that about me?” (p. 106)
This part of the book is heart-breaking. Michael pleaded with Jermaine to not release the song fearing for Jermaine's own career, “It's not going to hurt my career, but it will totally ruin yours” (p.106).
In spite of the “mad” family dynamic that Maldanado delineates about, her admiration of Michael Jackson's kindness and responsible demeanor is loud and clear throughout the book. Michael is not at all the main focus of the book but when she spoke of him, she had nothing but good praises for the only male Jackson that she trusted completely.
She believes in his complete innocence–as she should.*** She acknowledges his Vitiligo.**** Also, she tells about a time when Michael was rushed to the hospital assuming it was a heart attack but later it became apparent that he was suffering from “costochondritis”.*****
Another interesting revelation is about Jack Gordon, La Toya's abusive then-husband and manager, Maldanado describes how he separately asked each of Michael and the Jackson family for money ($5 mil.) in an extortion attempt if they wanted to prevent certain stories from coming out. Michael always refused to pay him any dime as he got nothing to fear, and so did the family. Katherine took it a step further and informed the FBI.
All in all, “Jackson Family Values” is an eye-opening book despite being one-sided and written in a tabloid-like manner but it still answers various questions. It's impossible to read this one and not learn something from it.
*Janet and Marlon are rarely mentioned but according to Maldanado both of them distanced themselves from the family at the time
**L.A. Reid details his side of what happened in his own memoir “Sing To Me: My Story of Making Music, Finding Magic, and Searching for Who's Next”
***check here
****read more about Michael Jackson and Vitiligo
*****it's a common side-effect to Lupus which Michael Jackson suffered from.
Jackson Family Values: Memories of Madness reads smoothly (I finished it within two busy days), and cuts down to the chase from the very first chapter –although there are some parts that feels missing or more appropriately glossed over but that doesn't affect much of the actual loaded content. Maldanado's exposé is directed specifically at the Jackson men (excluding Michael) in which she details their long and disturbing history of infidelities and abusive (mental & physical) behaviors towards the women in their lives. However, she doesn't hesitate to disclose some information about Katherine and the rest of the Jackson women. Katherine is portrayed as a passive-aggressive kind of person, although Maldanado sympathizes with her, she insists that she could've and should've done so much more than covering up for her husband and sons (excluding Michael).*
Nothing within these pages came as a surprise to me because when you're a life-long Michael Jackson fan you've heard it all about these aspects, Michael himself gave a few informative accounts including the verbal and physical abuse but it's still a sobering read that clarifies the reason why Michael distanced himself from the family. Maldanado confirms that although Michael was no longer associating with the Jacksons as he used to, he was still financing all of their expenses to which he gladly obliged. She states that Jermaine was living off of Michael's money and fame. According to her, when Tito and his late-wife broke apart due to her walking in to see him with another women, Tito unapologetically took off without providing any financial support for his young three children which given the then-circumstances, it would result in them having to leave school. When Michael heard of that he stepped in, “paid for all of them to go through Buckley,” and also funded their college education (p. 89).
And this was the case with almost everything and everyone else. Michael Jackson always saved the day.
Maldanado discusses the famous rift that happened because of the dis track that Jermaine wrote about his brother, Michael, and the confrontation that occurred.** Michael had only one haunting question to ask Jermaine –who was, according to Maldanado, unapologetic to the degree of extreme rudeness– “I'm your brother. How could you write something like that about me?” (p. 106)
This part of the book is heart-breaking. Michael pleaded with Jermaine to not release the song fearing for Jermaine's own career, “It's not going to hurt my career, but it will totally ruin yours” (p.106).
In spite of the “mad” family dynamic that Maldanado delineates about, her admiration of Michael Jackson's kindness and responsible demeanor is loud and clear throughout the book. Michael is not at all the main focus of the book but when she spoke of him, she had nothing but good praises for the only male Jackson that she trusted completely.
“The only Jackson who inquires about Jeremy and Jourdynn's welfare is Michael, the busiest Jackson of them all. He has a new album, a new wife, and his own ready-made family but has expressed a desire to help my sons. He didn't do it out of a sense of responsibility or legal commitments; he did it out of love. The King of Pop has the kindest heart of all” (p. 234-235).
She believes in his complete innocence–as she should.*** She acknowledges his Vitiligo.**** Also, she tells about a time when Michael was rushed to the hospital assuming it was a heart attack but later it became apparent that he was suffering from “costochondritis”.*****
Another interesting revelation is about Jack Gordon, La Toya's abusive then-husband and manager, Maldanado describes how he separately asked each of Michael and the Jackson family for money ($5 mil.) in an extortion attempt if they wanted to prevent certain stories from coming out. Michael always refused to pay him any dime as he got nothing to fear, and so did the family. Katherine took it a step further and informed the FBI.
All in all, “Jackson Family Values” is an eye-opening book despite being one-sided and written in a tabloid-like manner but it still answers various questions. It's impossible to read this one and not learn something from it.
*Janet and Marlon are rarely mentioned but according to Maldanado both of them distanced themselves from the family at the time
**L.A. Reid details his side of what happened in his own memoir “Sing To Me: My Story of Making Music, Finding Magic, and Searching for Who's Next”
***check here
****read more about Michael Jackson and Vitiligo
*****it's a common side-effect to Lupus which Michael Jackson suffered from.
February 6, 2017
Tabloid-like glimpse into the bizarre, melodramatic circus that is the Jackson Family dynasty, this time written from an ex-wife of Jermaine, who paints a picture of Jermaine as an ignorant, talentless, media and money hungry idiot whose never-ending poor financial and creative decisions end in embarrassing failure that routinely require Michael Jackson's assistance to remedy. I'm convinced the regular, everyday person will never have a true understanding of how or why this family operates the way they do, what they have to deal with, or how their lives have unfolded over the years. But one thing is inherently clear: Michael and Janet were the talented ones, and everyone else sponges and attempts to profit off their successes, and due to their explosive, unequaled successes, have kept the rest of the deadbeats afloat over and over again through laughable failures, and probably always will. I try to tell myself this is Jermaine's scorned ex-wife, but you can't deny Jermaine's embarrassing ability to show up in times of crisis in an attempt to eat the crumbs from his brother's ambrosia, in hopes that they will allow him the relevance/nourishment he obviously needs to live on a day to day basis.
June 20, 2009
She was Jermaine Jackson's common law wife for 8 years and had two children with him and lived in the Jackson household with Michael, Janet and some of the others. Michael never came out of his room and Janet was sweet. It was a good read.
January 31, 2018
I read this once years ago and am re-reading it for obvious reasons.
April 27, 2012
As much as fans want to say, I think Margaret pretty much says the truth, I don't see any reason why she should invent things and I don't think she's ever been sued for writing it.
August 22, 2013
Margaret did not hold back on the experiences she had being Jermaine's wife. Some of the things she talks about were very surprising to me. Nothing too shocking though besides the fact that Jermaine married his brothers ex. Pretty nasty if you ask me.
Nothing new about Joseph was written in the book besides that he now seems even more of an ass to me than he already was before. Someone in the family was having problems and got on top of the roof of the Hayvenhurt Mansion and threatened suicide by jumping and he told them to go ahead and jump! Of course a lot of bad things said about him is hearsay but all his kids say the same thing about him so it might be true......
Margaret had beautiful things to say about Michael and how even after her relationship with Jermaine ended he helped her financially. It was pretty sad that she says his family feeds off of Michael's money and fame, especially Jermaine. I think this is obvious for all of us Michael fans that have seen him become the family spokesperson in the recent years.
I think Michael fans will enjoy this book. It does have interesting stories about the brothers and the drama with their spouses. After reading this I really see that they have family drama and issues just like the rest of us. :_)
Nothing new about Joseph was written in the book besides that he now seems even more of an ass to me than he already was before. Someone in the family was having problems and got on top of the roof of the Hayvenhurt Mansion and threatened suicide by jumping and he told them to go ahead and jump! Of course a lot of bad things said about him is hearsay but all his kids say the same thing about him so it might be true......
Margaret had beautiful things to say about Michael and how even after her relationship with Jermaine ended he helped her financially. It was pretty sad that she says his family feeds off of Michael's money and fame, especially Jermaine. I think this is obvious for all of us Michael fans that have seen him become the family spokesperson in the recent years.
I think Michael fans will enjoy this book. It does have interesting stories about the brothers and the drama with their spouses. After reading this I really see that they have family drama and issues just like the rest of us. :_)
June 11, 2009
I enjoyed reading about the Jackson family--this one written
back in 1995. The author lived with Jermaine Jackson, in the family home, and had two children with him. Interesting revelations about all the Jacksons. Although nothing negative about Michael--she had all good things to say about him.
back in 1995. The author lived with Jermaine Jackson, in the family home, and had two children with him. Interesting revelations about all the Jacksons. Although nothing negative about Michael--she had all good things to say about him.
November 26, 2012
Learned things about the Jackson's I didn't know. Good book
October 14, 2019
Excellent book by the former girlfriend of Jermaine Jackson.
April 18, 2010
**some spoiler alerts**
As previous stated in other reviews here on goodreads.com, Margaret Maldanado was the former common law wife of Jermaine Jackson. Unfortunately their relationship was doomed from the beginning without even Margaret realizing the red flags everywhere. However, she admits her faults in the relationship that produced 2 kids and a life of uncertainty living in the Jackson Family Compound known as Hayvenhurst.
It's a fast and intriguing read which I devoured in 2 days. The things I learned from this book but I already knew were that Joseph Jackson (the patriarch of the Jackson family) was and maybe still is a womanizer, verbal abuser and emotionally disconnected with sharing his true feelings with the immediate Jackson family.
Unfortunately it appears through Margaret's eyes that some of his sons have fallen into his path except for Michael who was not like his father according to her. I'm perplexed as to how Jermaine Jackson evolved into this parasite that I wasn't familiar with but then I don't know him.
Besides learning so much about Jermaine, I learned some interesting things about each brother that made me either yell out,"OMG, in horror" or "wow, that's so sweet." Guess who was the sweet one? Michael! Not only did I learn about the brothers but the sisters too and even about Mrs. Jackson.
It's a must read if you are a Jackson reader or inquisitive to know about the Jacksons. It's the ultimate read of a dysfunctional family. But remember this book was published in 1995.
The main thing I learned from this book is that if Jermaine Jackson is promoting some type of concert, tribute or whatever, don't even try supporting it. It may not fall through. He's a talker and not a true doer.
Thank you, Margaret, for having the courage and strength to tell your story and to be a self sufficient provider to your children! Learn women LEARN from her story!
As previous stated in other reviews here on goodreads.com, Margaret Maldanado was the former common law wife of Jermaine Jackson. Unfortunately their relationship was doomed from the beginning without even Margaret realizing the red flags everywhere. However, she admits her faults in the relationship that produced 2 kids and a life of uncertainty living in the Jackson Family Compound known as Hayvenhurst.
It's a fast and intriguing read which I devoured in 2 days. The things I learned from this book but I already knew were that Joseph Jackson (the patriarch of the Jackson family) was and maybe still is a womanizer, verbal abuser and emotionally disconnected with sharing his true feelings with the immediate Jackson family.
Unfortunately it appears through Margaret's eyes that some of his sons have fallen into his path except for Michael who was not like his father according to her. I'm perplexed as to how Jermaine Jackson evolved into this parasite that I wasn't familiar with but then I don't know him.
Besides learning so much about Jermaine, I learned some interesting things about each brother that made me either yell out,"OMG, in horror" or "wow, that's so sweet." Guess who was the sweet one? Michael! Not only did I learn about the brothers but the sisters too and even about Mrs. Jackson.
It's a must read if you are a Jackson reader or inquisitive to know about the Jacksons. It's the ultimate read of a dysfunctional family. But remember this book was published in 1995.
The main thing I learned from this book is that if Jermaine Jackson is promoting some type of concert, tribute or whatever, don't even try supporting it. It may not fall through. He's a talker and not a true doer.
Thank you, Margaret, for having the courage and strength to tell your story and to be a self sufficient provider to your children! Learn women LEARN from her story!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 24, 2016
As a single parent I find Ms. Maldonado's determination to leave the dysfunction of the Jackson family and build a thriving business very inspiring. She is very candid in this book and I think the story she tells to be honest and believable. I have always loved Michael Jackson's music but the Jackson family seems to continue to be highly dysfunctional. When you watch shows like "The Next Generation" featuring 3T as adults I see the same patterns displayed by their uncles and grandfather and it is very sad. But hopefully they will realize that there are other ways to be successful and they need not all pursue music to do that. The younger generation should move out into the world in new ways. This book drives home this as we see the horrible behavior displayed in that family.
April 6, 2022
4/5 stars ⭐️
Woooh, the tea in this book ☕️ I’m not gonna say I believe everything in this book (because I don’t), but I do believe A LOT of it. I really loved & appreciated the fact that she didn’t put Michael down and only had nice things to say about him. I definitely recommend picking this one up if you want a look into the real lives of the Jackson’s.
Woooh, the tea in this book ☕️ I’m not gonna say I believe everything in this book (because I don’t), but I do believe A LOT of it. I really loved & appreciated the fact that she didn’t put Michael down and only had nice things to say about him. I definitely recommend picking this one up if you want a look into the real lives of the Jackson’s.
September 22, 2024
jackson brothers the og bops
August 22, 2012
The Jackson family is a hot mess!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews