Why I have this book: I read the memoir of Alison Arngrim (who played Nellie on Little House on the Prairie), and since she mentioned that she and Melissa Gilbert were the best of friends during the filming of the show, I wanted to read Melissa's book, as well.
Backstory: My mom never liked Melissa Gilbert for some reason. I just remember her commenting negatively about Melissa more than once when we were watching the show. This was back when Melissa was just a child. Of course, that got planted in my head, but I realized as I was reading Alison's book that my opinion was only based on what my mom said, and I decided that should give her a chance.
Soooo... I wanted to read Melissa's book, but it was so expensive and not available at the library. I put it on my wish list on Amazon, and finally the price dropped to $1.99.
What to say...?
The book definitely kept my interest. Celebrity lifestyles are interesting, but nothing to admire for the most part. There is so much dysfunction. The way she paints Hollywood in the 1980's is pretty gross, although I guess it was normal to the participants. Lots of casual sex, drugs, and drinking. It surprised me that she was involved in all that because you just kind of categorize actors based on the characters they play. She played Laura Ingalls for years, so I just didn't think of her as a wild celebrity.
I was surprised that she dated quite a few of the heartthrobs of that time (Tom Cruise, for example), was engaged to Rob Lowe (which I did vaguely remember), and she hung with the "Brat Pack" of the 80's.
She experienced some rough things in her life, for sure.
Anyway, the book takes us through the early 2000's, and ends with her in her second marriage (with a dedication to her "true companion"). Apparently they divorced within a year or so of the publication, and she's now married to her third husband.
She has another book out, but the reviews are mixed. I'm not sure if I'll read it.
I gave the book three stars on Goodreads. I enjoyed reading it, but she does seem to do a lot of name-dropping, and for someone who claims to be insecure, she doesn't come across that way. Maybe she just doesn't understand what her life looks like from the view of regular people. Incidentally, she didn't really talk about her friendship with Alison as much as Alison talked about it in her own book.
She probably lived the way she was conditioned to live in that environment, but it's really a lifestyle that is messed up. I never got the impression that she's risen above it.
There's no descriptive sex, but she does talk about "flings" and affairs she and her partners (and others) had. There's swearing, including the F-word. It's kind of the typical sleazy Hollywood lifestyle shown to you (the reader), but without you having to actually see it.
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