Title: Mean Baby
By: Selma Blair
Genre: Memoir
Pages: 320
Release Date: May 17th, 2022
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Rating: ★★★★☆
Summary from Goodreads:
The first story Selma Blair Beitner ever heard about herself is that she was a mean, mean baby. With her mouth pulled in a perpetual snarl and a head so furry it had to be rubbed to make way for her forehead, Selma spent years living up to her terrible reputation: biting her sisters, lying spontaneously, getting drunk from Passover wine at the age of seven, and behaving dramatically so that she would be the center of attention.
Although Selma went on to become a celebrated Hollywood actress and model, she could never quite shake the periods of darkness that overtook her, the certainty that there was a great mystery at the heart of her life. She often felt like her arms might be on fire, a sensation not unlike electric shocks, and she secretly drank to escape.
Over the course of this beautiful and, at times, devasting memoir, Selma lays bare her addiction to alcohol, her devotion to her brilliant and complicated mother, and the moments she flirted with death. There is brutal violence, passionate love, true friendship, the gift of motherhood, and, finally, the surprising salvation of a multiple sclerosis diagnosis.
In a voice that is powerfully original, fiercely intelligent, and full of hard-won wisdom, Selma Blair’s Mean Baby is a deeply human memoir and a true literary achievement.
Review:
Turns out, Selma Blair is an amazing writer. She has a very natural writers voice and puts together a wonderful weaving story.
I thought I was prepared for the stories that I would read about in this book, but I really had no idea how dark Blair's past is. She grew up in less than favorable conditions with a mother that was distant and abusive and as a young adult, lived her life much the same. It wasn't until the birth of her own son, that she came into her own and grew as a person. I loved her transition.
Life has thrown everything it can at Blair, from her past to her present battling MS. She has become one of my most favorite people and a strong person. A woman who has taken the world by storm without looking back. This was a great read.
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