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Mean Baby

A Memoir of Growing Up

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Mean Baby

Written by: Selma Blair
Narrated by: Selma Blair
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About this listen

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • 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.

©2022 Knopf (P)2022 Random House Audio
Biographies & Memoirs Entertainment & Celebrities Personal Success Celebrity Funny Heartfelt Inspiring
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What listeners say about Mean Baby

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Couldn’t stop listening

I have always loved watching Selma on the screen but I was never aware of her story. Mean Baby was a great insight into learning more of her life story and it was extremely engaging and enjoyable.

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LOVE HER

She’s so very honest and her pain was deep and real. I don’t know how she survived but she must have super human strength. Love her voice and she was an amazing presenter. Just so very good and interesting. Can’t say enough about her stories and the way she wrote them. Clearly a huge talent. I pray for her health and more break throughs in treating MS.

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Exceptional

I grew up with Salma on the screen and in magazines but wasn’t necessarily her biggest follower or fan. This book however is EXCEPTIONAL

She was able to tap into feelings and thoughts and emotions of what having a more neurodiverse brain / body / experience feels like - in a way I deeply connected to

Such heartbreaking moments in her life - such deep emotions. I hope someone is telling her every day how PRECIOUS of a heart she is.

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amazing book

an amazing book.
very honest, very humble, and funny!
yet so informative and easy to follow.

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surprisingly good! you feel each word!

i wasnt sure about it on purchase, but glad I did. you feel her and her words. the struggle. we in this non movie industry think the stars have it all made. a snap of their fingers and things get fixed with money or status but its as real for movie stars as it is for regular folk. they feel their pain. I think theres a little piece of Selma in all of us.. maybe even some shattered pieces. The fight is real for everyone. I cried. I identified with Selmas story. I recommend it especially if youre feeling blue. shes a fighter. shes fiesty. shes also human. This book is a good read. You feel Selma. well done!

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Absolutely loved this book!

So well written. I thoroughly enjoyed how she described her life. Didn’t want it to end.

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Wasn’t a fan of her voice inflections

Overall I enjoyed listening to this book. What felt inauthentic was how she would change her voice to portray being upset. The transition back to her regular voice was too quick adding to the feeling of being fake. A simple pause before continuing would have allowed the listener to feel the emotion she was trying to portray.

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I loved this book

This book is read beautifully and written beautifully. Selma Blair is a truly fascinating and genuine creature. I found the story of her life comforting and inspiring and the performance emotionally nuanced, powerful.

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A True Storyteller

Selma Blair is a true storyteller, captivating readers by her words and listeners by the absolute raw emotion in her voice.

Thank you Selma Blair for sharing your life, these stories with the world.

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Not your conventional autobiography

Selma tells her story as she has lived her life, unconventional and on her own terms.

It was a raw, honest, funny, heartbreaking, witty and sad at times roller coaster ride of a listen.

If you do not mind the author following a conventional timeline to their story, you will enjoy this.

You will feel like you have sat down next to Selma as if she was a good girlfriend having a long chat about life.

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