Mean Baby

A Memoir of Growing Up

By: Selma Blair

Narrated by: Selma Blair

Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

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

The Brilliance of Selma Blair

I sincerely feel that only Selma’s narration could have done her story justice. Her emotional rawness inhaled and exhaled her truth.

I never cry when listening to audiobooks but having a similar disease to MS; I often burst into tears while listening to Mean Baby. I binged it in a couple of days, and I continue to amass brief crying spells seemingly out of nowhere. When I stop and examine why, it’s not only how hard living with a chronic illness (me, 30+ years) but it’s also many other things. The relationship with her mother is so relatable. My mother is relatively recently deceased as well. And oh god, the overwhelming difficulty and worry of raising children are devastating. Though our children also help us to want to go on. They are the most critical and challenging issues of our lives. Ms. Blair paints a picture of her son and her relationship, and the light it brings is pure and vital to not giving up on life.

Her honesty about the addiction is heartbreaking. I am amazed by how one could cope with both.

Her wit! How I adore her consciousness of knowing when it’s time to hurl an amusing anecdote or make a joke to lighten the load.

Kudos, Selma Blair! You’re an excellent writer. Those who say otherwise don’t have your emotional intelligence.
Thank you so much for advocating for us who live with chronically shitty illnesses. You’re wickedly wonderful!!

Honest & authentic & a very courageous & strong woman!!!

Wonderfully honest!!! I learned a lot for her honesty & her authenticity! Thank you for sharing your story 😘👍🏽

Love this sexy chick but emo

Love Selma. So freaking much but too much crying that seem slightly insincere… when crying wasn’t necessary at all. Girl is a bit emo.

Thank You for sharing your story

I had always loved your performances in movies, but as a fellow MS patient, can’t thank you enough for your braveness in sharing your story, documenting your journey and most of all, shining a light on this chronic disease so that people may come to understand the MS community a little better. In Gratitude, and with Love, Debra Cox 🧡

Breathtaking

Beautifully written and narrated! I laughed and cried! Thank you so much for putting everything out there to help people. You are a true gem!

Enjoyed from Cover to cover

Very candid well written memoir. Salma is not only a talented writer but an excellent narrator as well. I’m sure her story will help many. Having the courage to write and then we’re so raw and real cannot be easy, but she did it.

So much better then what I expected

Great writing, captivating. A very clear Way of describing multiple sclerosis and how it affects not just the person but those around the patient.

Enchanting story

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. I love how Selma has overcome all the challenges in her life, and she sounds amazing reading this book. I was hooked from beginning to end.

Wonderful woman, wonderful book…

In a whole new light.… I see this amazing,
resilient, beautiful, flawed and damaged
woman. But even more than all that, it's
her authenticity, which I think reflects
the highest class of person. Also, what a
great writer and storyteller. Just love
her. So highly recommend.

sensational!

this book touched me and spoke to me more than any other book I've listened to, and I'm a book girl!