Memoirs have never held much appeal for me. I find then typically self-aggrandizing and borderline narcissistic.
These two books are quite different in quite a few ways.
Peter Wolf was the one-time front man and primary songwriter for the J. Geils Band, a seminal rock and blues outfit from Bostow that enjoyed a long string of hits.In fact, many fans thought Wolf was J.Geils. If you were looking for history of the Gelis band, this is not it. Although the band is mentioned numerous times, there is actually only one chapter that specifically tells part of the band's story, including Wolf ultimately being kicked out of the group after his latest batch of songs was summarily rejected by his bandmates.
Instead, each chapter is a self-contained story of a specific phase of Wolf's eclectic life, including his extensive friendships with the old blues masters like Nuddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, as well as his tumultuos marriage to movie actress Faye Dunaway, The writing is crisp but easygoing, and does not lack for humor in many chapters.
Nobody's Girl is the sad and disturbing story of Virginia Giuffre, a neglected and abused child who eventually found herself, at age 15, working in the spa at Mar a Lago, where she was introduced to Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell promised to help make her a licensed masseuse. It didn't take long for her to be groomed to be sexually abused my Jeffery Epstein, a situation that lasted for several yeasr. Giuffre became Epstein's "right hand girl," traveling the world with the couple and even recruiting new young teens for Epstein. She committed suicide in 2025 at age 41 after many frustrating years of advocacy for Epstein's over 1,000 young victims.
I hear you question: Why in the world would I review these two books together? It's because neither book has the slightest hint of the self-aggrandizement and borderline narcissism that I mentioned above. Both authors freely and honestly admit their mistakes: Wolf for his infatuation with and destructive marriage to Faye Dunaway; Giuffre with her shamed admission that she became adept a recruiting vulnerable young girls as young as 13. I am not saying these two flaws are equal or even comparable, just that neither author offers a single excuse or attempts to place blame on anyone but themselves. If Waiting on the Moon is a tragi-comedy, Nobody's Girl is a straight up tragedy.
Both are highly recommended.
Portland, OR
February 18, 2026
