Overview

Selma Blair has played many archetypal roles: Gullible ingenue in Cruel Intentions. Preppy ice queen in Legally Blonde. Fire-starter in Hellboy. Muse to Karl Lagerfeld. Face of Chanel. Cover model. Advocate for the multiple sclerosis community. But before all of that, Selma was known best for being one thing: a mean baby. In a memoir that is as wildly funny as it is emotionally shattering, Selma Blair tells the captivating story of growing up and finding her truth. 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, shocking 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 simultaneous devastation and 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. 

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9780593607824

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Reviews

Selma Blair is one mean baby and one mean writer! Blair honestly writes about the uncertainty, messiness, joy, and weirdness of living in a 'broken' body. Disability is not always constant or known and Mean Baby depicts this reality with compassion and grace. -Alice Wong, editor of Disability Visibility Mean Baby is a fascinating exploration about the power of prophecy, of labels, and of one woman's determination to defy them all. Blair is a rebel, an artist, and it turns out: a writer. -Glennon Doyle, Author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller Untamed and Founder of Together Rising Selma Blair will take every expectation you have and shatter it with this beautiful book. It's less about illness than it is an effluence of hope, just when you can't imagine anyone having the spirit to summon it. Whatever agility her body's been robbed of hasn't marred her dazzling ability to express it. She writes with a ribald irreverence as darkly funny as anything I've ever read; urging on each page: 'Go ahead and laugh. I am.' It's amazing that someone labeled negative from birth could find her way to such a superhuman positivity and she transforms decline into an ascension with an honesty I will never forget. The girl who saw lewd scribbles on the bathroom wall as 'a good review' grows up to flip a nightmare into an opportunity; that's as much a triumph as her book. It's equally rewarding to see a passionate reader roll up out of nowhere, armed with passages on par with every writer she reveres. The benediction she arrives at is her own, as earned as her luminous passages. If you've ever felt broken or lost you'll find yourself on the pages of this book, and maybe see a way to the high road when the author writes: to be so lucky. The rejects and outsiders have spoken Selma, and we've elected you Queen. -Mary Louise Parker, best-selling author of Dear Mr. You Mean Baby is straight-up terrific - bold, intimate, sassy, profound - and a vital reminder that the hectic glitter of the exterior rarely reflects the hard-earned wonder of the interior. So, while you might reach for Mean Baby because of the author's celebrity, you'll read into the night for her candor, eye for detail, and stunning prose. In an embarrassment of riches, Selma Blair is as talented a writer as she is an actress. -Adrienne Brodeur, best-selling author of Wild Game

Elegantly expressed... Evocative... This generous, moving book... roams intuitively, assuredly, between past and present... For years Blair looked to astrologers, mediums, and healers to tell her story... She herself is the right person. -Susan Burton, The New York Times Selma Blair is not afraid to go there when it comes to sharing the ups and downs of her personal life - particularly in the wake of her 2018 Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis - but never before has she shared such shocking details from her past. -Kara Warner, People Magazine A beautiful tale about how this person learned to love a new version of herself. -Rachel Martin, NPR's Morning Edition Selma Blair has written a book on survival. Mean Baby, the first book released by the actor, examines the often darker moments of her life. From being violated by an educator during her childhood to seeking refuge in the bottom of alcohol bottles by age 7 and experiencing physical pain that she now believes could have been early signs of MS, she reflects back on it all. -Alex Portee, The TODAY Show If you thought you knew Selma Blair, think again. -Marie Claire Selma Blair is one mean baby and one mean writer! Blair honestly writes about the uncertainty, messiness, joy, and weirdness of living in a 'broken' body. Disability is not always constant or known and Mean Baby depicts this reality with compassion and grace. -Alice Wong, editor of Disability Visibility Mean Baby, Selma Blair's brilliant book, demands attention. It grabs you by the collar and says listen to all that I have to say: about love, pain, motherhood, illness, celebrity, and the tidal ferocity that pours through all our lives. Read it and be caught in the voice of one of our luminous stars. -Esme Weijun Wang, best-selling author of The Collected Schizophrenias Selma Blair will take every expectation you have and shatter it with this beautiful book. It's less about illness than it is an effluence of hope, just when you can't imagine anyone having the spirit to summon it. If you've ever felt broken or lost, you'll find yourself on the pages of this book and maybe see a way to the high road when the author writes, To have been so lucky. The rejects and outsiders have spoken, Selma, and we've elected you Queen. -Mary-Louise Parker, best-selling author of Dear Mr. You Mean Baby is straight-up terrific - bold, intimate, sassy, profound - and a vital reminder that the hectic glitter of the exterior rarely reflects the hard-earned wonder of the interior. So, while you might reach for Mean Baby because of the author's celebrity, you'll read into the night for her candor, eye for detail, and stunning prose. In an embarrassment of riches, Selma Blair is as talented a writer as she is an actress. -Adrienne Brodeur, best-selling author of Wild Game Mean Baby is a fascinating exploration about the power of prophecy, of labels, and of one woman's determination to defy them all. Blair is a rebel, an artist, and it turns out: a writer. -Glennon Doyle, author of the #1 New York Times best-seller Untamed and Founder of Together Rising Actress Selma Blair always thought of herself as a sidekick or character actress, never a leading lady, but in this illuminating and authentic memoir, she takes center stage as the teller of her own story... The book's first and third parts, covering her childhood and her MS diagnosis (along with the birth of her son), respectively, are spellbinding... A compelling story... remarkably good writing. -Booklist, starred

Selma Blair is one mean baby and one mean writer! Blair honestly writes about the uncertainty, messiness, joy, and weirdness of living in a 'broken' body. Disability is not always constant or known and Mean Baby depicts this reality with compassion and grace. -Alice Wong, editor of Disability Visibility Selma Blair will take every expectation you have and shatter it with this beautiful book. It's less about illness than it is an effluence of hope, just when you can't imagine anyone having the spirit to summon it. Whatever agility her body's been robbed of hasn't marred her dazzling ability to express it. She writes with a ribald irreverence as darkly funny as anything I've ever read; urging on each page: 'Go ahead and laugh. I am.' It's amazing that someone labeled negative from birth could find her way to such a superhuman positivity and she transforms decline into an ascension with an honesty I will never forget. The girl who saw lewd scribbles on the bathroom wall as 'a good review' grows up to flip a nightmare into an opportunity; that's as much a triumph as her book. It's equally rewarding to see a passionate reader roll up out of nowhere, armed with passages on par with every writer she reveres. The benediction she arrives at is her own, as earned as her luminous passages. If you've ever felt broken or lost you'll find yourself on the pages of this book, and maybe see a way to the high road when the author writes: to be so lucky. The rejects and outsiders have spoken Selma, and we've elected you Queen. -Mary Louise Parker, best-selling author of Dear Mr. You Mean Baby is straight-up terrific - bold, intimate, sassy, profound - and a vital reminder that the hectic glitter of the exterior rarely reflects the hard-earned wonder of the interior. So, while you might reach for Mean Baby because of the author's celebrity, you'll read into the night for her candor, eye for detail, and stunning prose. In an embarrassment of riches, Selma Blair is as talented a writer as she is an actress. -Adrienne Brodeur, best-selling author of Wild Game

Author Information

SELMA BLAIR is an actress best known for her roles in Legally Blonde, Cruel Intentions, The Sweetest Thing, and Hellboy. Blair was named a Time Person of the Year in 2017 as one of their Silence Breakers, and she was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for her narration of The Diary of Anne Frank. She is the subject of the documentary Introducing, Selma Blair, which reveals Blair’s intimate and raw journey with multiple sclerosis. Blair lives with her son in Los Angeles.        

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