Geez Louise – Selma Blair has had a hard life. The title of her book comes from that when she was an infant, her face supposedly looked scrunched up into an angry stare and everyone called her Mean Baby. It seems it became a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts.

I didn’t know very much about her before reading her book. Really, all I knew is that she had been fairly recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She’s also a recovering alcoholic and was sexually assaulted several times. And her mom! She seemed like a very cold and often cruel woman. She constantly criticized Selma and said the most horrible things to her. Selma is the youngest of four girls and was a surprise baby. I don’t remember the exact quote but when Selma was a child, her mom said something to her to the effect of, “You know, I could have had an abortion but I didn’t.” And yet Selma loved her and was desperate for her approval.

The entire book was tough to listen to. Selma narrates it herself and chokes up at several points. And I don’t blame her. Her alcoholism is probably sprung in part from self-medicating not only to forget about her mother and other problems but also because she suffered from painful physical symptoms for years before she was finally diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

The book’s timeline was a little jumbled but that didn’t bother me too much. I knew from reading reviews before I read it that it wasn’t going to be a fun, tell-all Hollywood memoir. Know that and read it when you’re in the mood for something more serious. It’s very well-written. Selma studied writing before she became an actress and it shows. Recommended. ( )

I ended up enjoying this much more than I thought I would, probably because it was ready by the author whose emotions would come through. ( )