Reviews with content warning for Eating disorder - Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up

Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up by Selma Blair

47 reviews

kaylandeanne's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

3.75

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bgoodbookclub's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

I am jealous that if I ever write a memoir, my title will not be as good as this title. Also y'all KNOW I love a memoir that is narrated by the author.

I will always be appalled by how difficult it is to get a diagnosis for women and how doctors don’t believe or listen to symptoms. This book is a great narrative of having an “invisible” disability and how long it can take to get diagnosed with one. I also think it is a great story that displays the ways individuals deal with their symptoms while trying to find a name for what they’re experiencing.

I don't think I've ever listened to an audiobook where the narrator gets emotional when reading it, but it really held a lot of weight in this story. This book covers a lot of heavy topics and Blair's emotions are clear in her narration.

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nonfictionfeminist's review

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emotional slow-paced

3.0

This book ultimately left me feeling kind of frustrated. I enjoy Selma as an actress, and love that she is a voice for MS. However, the important sections of this book (the kind of emotional abuse by her mother and her dealings with MS and alcoholism) weren't really expanded upon, and the less important bits (odd anecdotes about boyfriends and friends and directors) took up so many pages without really saying anything. I also feel like she really struggled to admit how privileged her upbringing was. When your mom spends a thousand dollars on a Burberry coat for you, that's an enormous privilege.
This book also ends up being so anecdotal that it would perhaps be better advertised as an autobiography rather than a memoir, which implies a stronger focus on a particular topic.

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