The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, child abuse, pregnancy loss, child death, suicidal ideation, mental illness, illness, and substance use.

Griffin is the author, narrator, and protagonist of the book. He is an actor, producer, and director, and he details some of his work in the memoir: producing and starring in the Martin Scorsese-directed After Hours and starring in An American Werewolf in London. Since the events of the memoir, Griffin has continued to work in film. He directed a documentary on the writer Joan Didion, who is also his aunt and features prominently in the memoir. He also directed the movie Practical Magic.

The book’s early chapters are filled with anecdotes from Griffin’s childhood that paint a picture of the kind of person Griffin is. Especially in his youth, he was mischievous and daring, even irresponsible. Anecdotes such as “borrowing” his mother’s car in the middle of the night with a friend when he was still a child, conspiring with his friend John to kill John’s abusive stepfather, and even getting married on a whim at 18 all reiterate this.

At the same time, Griffin’s loving and loyal side, especially to those he holds dear, is equally on display.