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A review by karenleagermain
Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up by Selma Blair
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
I went into this memoir with a minimal awareness of Selma Blair. I have seen a few of her movies, but she isn't a celebrity that I follow. I do enjoy celebrity memoirs and Mean Baby was offered as an audio arc for booksellers, so I thought I'd give it a go.
Blair has a very interesting backstory, growing up in Michigan and getting her big film breaks during her early 20's. Blair narrates the audio book and she was fantastic at using her acting skills to really bring to life her colorful family, especially her mom. On the flip side, many aspects of Blair's memoir are emotional and as she read these parts, her voice would break and it sounded like she was crying. I think this would have been okay ( showing emotion is a positive thing) but it happened a lot...too much.
I liked all of the Hollywood bits to the memoir. I didn't realize that Blair was such a fashion icon, which was also interesting. I had to stop listening to look up pictures of her. All of this made for a solid celebrity memoir, but the real meat of the book comes in the last quarter, when Blair reveals her MS diagnosis.
You don't need to know who Blair is or that she is a celebrity to find relatability in her health issues. I don't have MS, but I have many friends who have been diagnosed and hearing Blair explain her health issues made me more aware of what my friend's might be facing. Blair is also very clear to share that her symptoms might not mirror others with the same diagnosis. I think she is brave for sharing this and I found this end section to be the most compelling part of her book. Also, there is a very tense story that she shares of diving into the ocean and finding herself unable to swim. It's terrifying!
Blair has a very interesting backstory, growing up in Michigan and getting her big film breaks during her early 20's. Blair narrates the audio book and she was fantastic at using her acting skills to really bring to life her colorful family, especially her mom. On the flip side, many aspects of Blair's memoir are emotional and as she read these parts, her voice would break and it sounded like she was crying. I think this would have been okay ( showing emotion is a positive thing) but it happened a lot...too much.
I liked all of the Hollywood bits to the memoir. I didn't realize that Blair was such a fashion icon, which was also interesting. I had to stop listening to look up pictures of her. All of this made for a solid celebrity memoir, but the real meat of the book comes in the last quarter, when Blair reveals her MS diagnosis.
You don't need to know who Blair is or that she is a celebrity to find relatability in her health issues. I don't have MS, but I have many friends who have been diagnosed and hearing Blair explain her health issues made me more aware of what my friend's might be facing. Blair is also very clear to share that her symptoms might not mirror others with the same diagnosis. I think she is brave for sharing this and I found this end section to be the most compelling part of her book. Also, there is a very tense story that she shares of diving into the ocean and finding herself unable to swim. It's terrifying!