Selma Blair (Alfred A. Knopf), “Mean Baby”
Selma Blair is most likely well-known for her roles in hit films like “Cruel Intentions,” and “Legally Blonde”.
Others may be familiar with her work in modeling, appearing on the covers of fashion magazines. She also enjoyed a stint working with Karl Lagerfeld as a collaborator and muse.
Perhaps they have heard of her midlife multiple sclerosis diagnosis. Or perhaps they have seen the documentary “Introducing Selma Blair,” which details how she is adapting to living with the disease.
They don’t know and haven’t been able to until now, the terrible trauma Selma Blair Beitner, a Michigan native, has endured over her 49-years.
Blair explains all this in her compelling and unflinching memoir “Mean Baby.”
She was addicted to alcohol and even drank Passover wine while she was an elementary school student. A trusted high school administrator raped her during a college spring break trip to Florida. Additionally, numerous suicide attempts and rehab stints.
Blair’s raw and honest “Mean Baby” is Blair’s story in words. It’s well worth your time because it’s funny. It’s also very uplifting.
Molly Cooke, her mother, is a frequent presence in the book. Blair admired the Detroit-based lawyer and workers’ compensation magistrate, and she was her confidante and role model. Blair’s love for her mom is evident, which makes Cooke’s 2020 passing all the more difficult. She shared that she still left daily messages on Cooke’s answering machine.
Blair wrote, “Good night Mom, I whisper every night.” “May all of our dreams come true. Even those we haven’t yet imagined.
Blair also shared stories about her Hollywood friendships (Reese Witherspoon, Carrie Fisher) and romances (Jason Schwartzman), as well as the run-ins that she had with Britney Spears when they were both in rehab at Promises Malibu. Blair claims that she demanded that Spears quit wearing the platinum bob wig that she wore after she had shaved her head at a salon. Blair keeps the wig in her closet. She also bit Seth MacFarlane’s hand and Sienna Miller’s arm when they met.
Let’s now turn to the title: Blair was born into this title.
“I was a mean, nasty baby. She wrote, “I came into this world having my mouth pulled into an inexorable snarl.”
“From the beginning, I was misunderstood.”
Blair might have been misunderstood in 1972, but she seems to have discovered her truth after half a century of searching. Arthur is her love, and she dedicates the book to him.
“The mean baby is still there. But her edges are softer, wiser, and kinder.”
You are capable of writing a vivid and intense memoir.
