I'm Glad My Mom Died

McCurdy was a professional actress from age six until she announced that she had permanently stopped acting in 2017.[2] From 2009 to 2012, she was signed to Capitol Records Nashville, who released her self-titled debut studio album in 2012.[2]

McCurdy had previously written pieces in publications such as The Wall Street Journal and began writing personal essays shortly after. She sent some of the essays to her manager at the time, who encouraged her to write a book about her experiences. Rather than write a book, McCurdy created a one-woman show titled I'm Glad My Mom Died which she performed in Los Angeles and New York City. Plans to tour the show in other cities were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and she decided to write her material into a memoir.[1]

McCurdy stated that she had rejected $300,000 from Nickelodeon to not talk publicly about her experiences at the network, including actions of "The Creator".[3][1][4][5]

In the memoir, McCurdy discusses her childhood as a successful child actress, her brief foray into a country music career and the troubled and controlling relationship she had with her mother, Debra, who died from cancer in 2013.[7][8] She describes a strained relationship with a producer described pseudonymously as "The Creator", who BuzzFeed News and other sources inferred to be Dan Schneider.[3][1][4][9]

The book is divided into two sections, "Before" and "After", which describe the events of her life before and after the death of her mother.[10][11]

The book sold out within 24 hours of going on sale at retailers such as Amazon, Target, and Barnes & Noble.[12] That same month it became a number one New York Times Best Seller for non-fiction in both hardcover and E-book,[13] selling over 200,000 copies across all formats in its first week of release.[14] As of early October 2023, it remained on the hardcover list 60 consecutive weeks.[15] According to Deadline, the book has sold nearly 2 million copies as of February 2023.[16]

I'm Glad My Mom Died was met with "rave" reviews from critics, with review aggregator Book Marks reporting that none of the nine reviews were negative or mixed.[17][18] In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called the book "Insightful and incisive, heartbreaking and raw."[19] Kirkus Reviews, which also gave a starred review, wrote that the book is, "The heartbreaking story of an emotionally battered child delivered with captivating candor and grace."[20] Nana Li Coomes of The Atlantic called it "a layered account of a woman reckoning with love and violence at once."[21] Dave Itzkoff of The New York Times wrote that the memoir was, "A coming-of-age story that is alternately harrowing and mordantly funny."[1]

• Mommie Dearest (1978)