Arts & Literature
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Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up
Selma Blair has played many roles: Ingenue in Cruel Intentions. Preppy ice queen in Legally Blonde. Muse to Karl Lagerfeld. Advocate for the multiple sclerosis community. But before all of that, Selma was known best as … a mean baby. In a memoir that is as wildly funny as it is emotionally shattering, Blair tells the captivating story of growing up and finding her truth.
"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
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.
"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
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.
Editorial Reviews
"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
"Blair engages with her MS starkly and movingly...[She] puts it all out there."
-Joanne Kaufman, The Wall Street Journal
"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
"In Mean Baby, an intensely self-aware and cheerfully self-revealing Blair explores the abundant darkness arising from her fraught relationships with her mother, men, alcohol and, ultimately, multiple sclerosis. In different hands, this might make for a more painful read. But throughout her breezy narrative, Blair's wry humor and her chatty, confiding tone make you feel that you're spending 300 pages with a smart and, yes, slightly bratty new friend… Blair's memoir…is funny and frank, a chance to spend time with a brave and big-hearted woman who's grown up to be not so mean, after all."
-Jennifer LaRue, The Washington Post
"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 Portée, The TODAY Show
"Unlike many celebrity memoirs, which can read as vanity projects, Mean Baby is unflinching: Blair confronts her history of sexual assault, divorce, loneliness, and violence. She strove for honesty, for total transparency…Readers of Mean Baby will also be grateful for Blair's generosity."
-Samantha Leach,
-Susan Burton, The New York Times
"Blair engages with her MS starkly and movingly...[She] puts it all out there."
-Joanne Kaufman, The Wall Street Journal
"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
"In Mean Baby, an intensely self-aware and cheerfully self-revealing Blair explores the abundant darkness arising from her fraught relationships with her mother, men, alcohol and, ultimately, multiple sclerosis. In different hands, this might make for a more painful read. But throughout her breezy narrative, Blair's wry humor and her chatty, confiding tone make you feel that you're spending 300 pages with a smart and, yes, slightly bratty new friend… Blair's memoir…is funny and frank, a chance to spend time with a brave and big-hearted woman who's grown up to be not so mean, after all."
-Jennifer LaRue, The Washington Post
"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 Portée, The TODAY Show
"Unlike many celebrity memoirs, which can read as vanity projects, Mean Baby is unflinching: Blair confronts her history of sexual assault, divorce, loneliness, and violence. She strove for honesty, for total transparency…Readers of Mean Baby will also be grateful for Blair's generosity."
-Samantha Leach,
Readers Top Reviews
Lee GarrisonBradley
I love this book. It’s a definite page turner. I couldn’t put it down.
Patricia Parker
Way to go selma. Congrats. Cant wait to start it tonight !!!
bellamama2007
I feel as though I've been reunited with my long long twin sister. I'm gobsmacked. Every mother should read Mean Baby.
Debbie in Houston
Love this. Selma is so brutally honest about her and the friends/celebrities in her life. She takes you through her alcoholism, but not in a harsh way. It's actually very practical and real the way she describes it. This is not a pity-party book. It's so good for women to read, especially, because we can all relate so much to the things that Selma experienced with her mom, sisters, teachers, friends, lovers, etc. I love this book.
lacey
So I wouldn’t have read this except I got stuck in line at Walmart and read the excerpt in some magazine. I was riveted immediately and rushed home to download it. It’s SO good!! Like besides the fact that we have more in common than I’d ever imagine - it’s funny and irreverent and heartbreaking and soooooo good. Did I say this is good? One of my new favorite memoirs.
