Moon Zappa remembers life with her father Frank. ‘Pagan absurdists’ aren’t great parents

Moon Zappa grew up in what appeared, on the outside, to be an enviably free-wheeling and creative household in Laurel Canyon. On the inside, not so much. Her extremely funny, soul-baring and colourful account of dysfunctional family life in her memoir Earth To Moon is as gripping as it’s unsettling. A typical day: “Your mother’s on the rampage, I need you to hide the gun!” Only other children with famous parents can fully gauge the emotional turmoil. She talks here about her memoir Earth To Moon – just out in paperback – and the impact of Frank’s work and tours on the frail domestic set-up and the years they all spent “stewarding his genius”. Along with …

… “is genius worth the collateral damage?”

… fond memories of rare moments with her workaholic father.

… the Zappa family’s perilous finances: “Could he write a pop song or did he just choose not to?”

... how she was shut out of the control of Frank’s estate “plus a clause saying if I found religion I’d get no money at all”.

… the nurses’ reaction when they discovered her new-born brother was named ‘Dweezil’.

... recording Valley Girl, the song that made her a teenage star and changed the family fortunes but got no gratitude from her parents.

… why Frank found Valley Girl’s success “mortifying”. And how her one catastrophic live version put her off stage performance for life.

… and that unique bond you have with other celebrity offspring: “Jakob Dylan and I just cackle with laughter. ‘That happened to you too?’”

Order ‘Earth To Moon’ in paperback here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Earth-Moon-Unit-Zappa/dp/1474623859/ref=asc_df_1474623859?mcid=ae11e321cea83f4486c71a35dd95a9ea&th=1&psc=1&hvocijid=15982814295882496701-1474623859-&hvexpln=74&tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=696285193871&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15982814295882496701&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9072502&hvtargid=pla-2281435176458&psc=1&gad_source=1

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