Growing up with a mother who essentially invented the "zipless fuck" isn't exactly a recipe for a white-picket-fence childhood. Honestly, it’s more like a recipe for a lifetime of therapy and at least three memoirs. If you've spent any time on Twitter (now X) or tuned into MSNBC lately, you know Molly Jong-Fast. She's sharp, she's fast-talking, and she has this specific brand of Manhattan anxiety that feels both exhausting and deeply relatable. But the Molly Jong-Fast family tree isn't just a collection of names; it’s a high-octane literary dynasty that has been making headlines since the McCarthy era.
Most people see the "Jong-Fast" hyphen and think of feminism or bestsellers. They aren't wrong. But they’re missing the sheer chaos of it. It’s a story of a grandfather who went to jail for his principles, a mother who became a sexual icon, and a father who got lost in a decades-long legal battle.
It’s messy. It’s brilliant. And it’s kind of a miracle that Molly ended up as the stable one.
The "Fear of Flying" Shadow
You can't talk about the Molly Jong-Fast family without starting with Erica Jong. In 1973, Erica published Fear of Flying. It didn't just sell books; it blew the doors off how women talked about desire. 20 million copies later, Erica wasn't just a writer—she was a movement.
For Molly, born in 1978, this meant her mother was less of a "bake cookies" type and more of a "fly to Venice for a party" type. She has described her childhood as being raised by a Catholic nanny while her mother was busy being a feminist icon. It sounds glamorous until you realize the loneliness involved.
Erica was charming. She was also, by Molly’s own admission, a narcissist. In her most recent memoir, How to Lose Your Mother (released in 2025), Molly gets brutally honest about the emotional dissonance of growing up in that shadow. Imagine having a parent who is physically there but always looking for the next spotlight. It’s a specific kind of abandonment.
And then there was the drinking. Molly has been open about the familial alcoholism that ran through the household like an uninvited guest. She actually got sober at 19. Nineteen! Most kids are just starting to drink at that age, but Molly had already seen enough to know she needed out.
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The Grandpa Who Wrote "Spartacus" in Prison
If the Jong side provided the fame, the Fast side provided the grit. Molly’s paternal grandfather was Howard Fast. If that name doesn't ring a bell, his work will: he wrote Spartacus.
He wasn't just a writer, though. He was a radical. Howard was a member of the Communist Party and ended up in prison during the McCarthy era because he refused to name names to the House Un-American Activities Committee. That’s a heavy legacy to carry. Molly has often spoken about her grandfather's pathological obsession with work. He grew up poor, his mother died young, and he felt like he had to write his way into survival.
By the time he died, he’d published over 60 books.
There’s this weird intersection in the Molly Jong-Fast family where fame meets political activism. You have Howard, the blacklisted hero, and Erica, the sexual revolutionary. It’s no wonder Molly ended up in political journalism. It’s basically the family business, just updated for the digital age.
The Epic Divorce
Molly's father, Jonathan Fast, is also a novelist. But in the family lore, he’s often defined by the "epic divorce" from Erica. They split when Molly was young, and the litigation lasted for decades. Suing each other became a sort of hobby.
Interestingly, Howard Fast actually helped Jonathan pay for his lawyers, even though he reportedly liked Erica because she was famous. Fame was the "magic potion" in this family. If you were in the zeitgeist, you were okay. If you weren't? Well, you were just another person in the room.
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The New Chapter: Matthew Greenfield and the Kids
Despite the "wildly conflicted" upbringing, Molly managed to build a strikingly normal-ish adult life. She married Matthew Adlai Greenfield in 2003. He’s a CUNY professor and, by all accounts, the stabilizing force in her life. They live in Manhattan on the Upper East Side with their three children.
But 2023 changed everything.
It was a "gut-wrenching" year. While Erica Jong was being diagnosed with dementia, Matthew was diagnosed with a rare cancer. Molly found herself sandwiched between a mother who was losing her memory and a husband fighting for his life. This is where the Molly Jong-Fast family story shifts from "literary gossip" to a deeply human struggle with caregiving and mortality.
She’s written about the irony of it: the mother who was never quite present is now the mother who can't be left alone. It’s a forced reconnection. In a way, the dementia stripped away the "famous writer" persona and left just the mother, allowing Molly to find a version of peace that seemed impossible ten years ago.
Why the Jong-Fast Legacy Actually Matters
So, why do we care? Is it just about "nepo babies" and New York elites?
Kinda, but not really.
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The Jong-Fast story is a case study in how fame and addiction can skip through generations. It’s about the cost of being a "public person." Molly has used her platform to destigmatize sobriety and to talk about the reality of "sandwiched" caregiving—looking after kids and aging parents simultaneously.
She didn't just inherit a famous name; she inherited a specific kind of intellectual boldness. Whether you like her politics or not, she doesn't flinch. That’s Howard Fast’s "refuse to name names" energy mixed with Erica Jong’s "say the unsayable" attitude.
Actionable Insights from the Jong-Fast Story
If there's anything to take away from the saga of this family, it's these three things:
- Sobriety can be a superpower. Molly’s decision to get sober at 19 allowed her to break a cycle of "familial alcoholism" that had claimed previous generations. If you’re struggling with family patterns, radical change is often the only way out.
- Fame isn't a safety net. As Molly pointed out, for people with narcissistic tendencies, fame acts like an accelerant for their worst traits. Building a "real" life outside of public validation (like her marriage to Matthew) is what actually provides stability.
- Forgiveness isn't about the other person. Writing How to Lose Your Mother wasn't just about "settling scores." It was about Molly processing the neglect of her childhood so she didn't carry that baggage into her own parenting.
The Molly Jong-Fast family isn't a museum piece. It’s a living, breathing, occasionally arguing group of people who happen to have written half the books in your local library. Understanding them helps make sense of the sharp-tongued commentator we see today. She isn't just talking about politics; she's surviving a legacy.
Next Steps for Readers:
If you want to understand the full emotional scope of this family, start with Molly's 2025 memoir How to Lose Your Mother. It provides the most current and honest look at the Erica Jong-Matthew Greenfield-Molly Jong-Fast triangle. From there, revisit Howard Fast's Spartacus to see where that "pathological" work ethic and political defiance originated.