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Prairie Tale: A Memoir
Thanks to her role as Laura "Half-Pint" Ingalls on the television series Little House on the Prairie, Melissa Gilbert has earned a permanent place in the hearts of women of all ages. But her real childhood was a far cry from Little House's idyllic portrait of family life, and her post-Little House years have been filled with ups and downs as well. Yet through her...more
Hardcover, 367 pages
Published
June 9th 2009
by Simon Spotlight Entertainment
(first published January 1st 2009)
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I thought this was a really fun read. Having grown up with Little House, it was interesting for me to see how that whole saga came to be, and then read about Melissa's romances with famous and not so famous boys, like Rob Lowe and Tom Cruise. She sure did a lot of made for TV movies, none of which I have ever seen. I remember being surprised a few years back to hear she was elected Pres of the SAG union, and was in some sort of feud with the actress from Rhoda, and this fleshes that saga out may...more
I was inspired to read this after reading Rob Lowe's autobiography - this book isn't nearly as much fun. Melissa is very serious; she luckily was one of the few child stars that was somewhat sheltered and therefore didn't really grow up too fast. However, she doesn't really probe how or why that happened. . she just accepts it. The relationship with Lowe is really interesting between the two books - she dedicates almost entire chapters to it, where her name appears in a few paragraphs in his ...more
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Hoho baca buku ini kayak sedang ngeliat infotainment dengan berita gosip-gosip Hollywood. Tapi ini bukan gosip karena yang bersangkutan sendiri yang bercerita. Mirip dengan ketika membaca Stori Telling.
Jadi ternyata pemeran Laura Ingalls itu teman akrab pemeran Nelly dan justru dia tidak akrab dengan pemeran kakaknya walaupun nama mereka sama-sama Melissa. Yang memerankan adik Nelly adalah adik Melissa. Melissa memusuhi adiknya waktu kecil.
Jodie Foster adalah saingan rutin Melissa ke...more
Jadi ternyata pemeran Laura Ingalls itu teman akrab pemeran Nelly dan justru dia tidak akrab dengan pemeran kakaknya walaupun nama mereka sama-sama Melissa. Yang memerankan adik Nelly adalah adik Melissa. Melissa memusuhi adiknya waktu kecil.
Jodie Foster adalah saingan rutin Melissa ke...more
I was a huge fan of Little House on the Prairie for the first several years. I found the harsh reality of prairie life sometimes difficult to digest. How anyone could possibly live in such extemes was beyond my comprehension. I moved on with my life and had relatively few remembrances of the work that Gilbert accomplished after the series concluded. I was amazed to see how extensive her resume was in comparison to my memories.
Gilbert engaged her friends in the creation of the ti...more
Gilbert engaged her friends in the creation of the ti...more
June 19, 2010: Within days of reading Melissa Sue Anderson's recent attempt at writing, I dove into Melissa Gilbert's memoir out of curiosity. I had been completely disappointed with the first Melissa's work that, I must admit, I was slightly hesitant to even begin another look inside the world of a Little House cast member. Surprisingly, by Chapter 3, I was hooked! And, before long, I found myself completely immersed in a truly well-written autobiography. At one point, hearing the telephone rin...more
As a child in the late 70s and early 80s, I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie and had read Laura Ingalls Wilder's books many times over. I was intrigued to read Melissa Gilbert's memoir on growing up in that arena, and who doesn't like a celebrity memoir, anyway?
Gilbert got her start in commercials and bit parts on 1970s shows such as Gunsmoke and Emergency, and then was chosen to star in Michael Landon's series based on the Little House books. Gilbert idolized 'Mike' and in...more
Gilbert got her start in commercials and bit parts on 1970s shows such as Gunsmoke and Emergency, and then was chosen to star in Michael Landon's series based on the Little House books. Gilbert idolized 'Mike' and in...more
As a rabid Little House fan, I had to read this book. It was disappointing in the Little House remembrances, but that is to be expected since the woman did (and does) have a whole career after little house.
However, the overall book is disappointing for me because though I love memoirs, I am not overly interested in celebrity gossip. Gilbert couldn't have dropped more names had she thrown a phone book down the stairs. (I must confess with being a bit intrigued about the drama with Rob...more
However, the overall book is disappointing for me because though I love memoirs, I am not overly interested in celebrity gossip. Gilbert couldn't have dropped more names had she thrown a phone book down the stairs. (I must confess with being a bit intrigued about the drama with Rob...more
Half-Pint bares all: the good, the bad and the ugly. Her life carries the baggage (and privileges) of growing up in a Hollywood family. Her grandfather introduces her to the old Hollywood legends who were his good friends. Her parents shelter her to the point of ignoring her growing (and grieving) pains. Her hit TV series (Little House on the Prairie) gives her a second family that is both loving and disfunctional. Hey, it's Hollywood. What do you expect? She succumbs to the usual problems: sex,...more
Prairie Tale is a memoir by Melissa Gilbert, the beloved actress who played Laura on the hit TV series Little House on the Prairie. Gilbert was born into a prominent showbiz family, America’s sweetheart during the Brat Pack years, and went on to become the President of the Screen Actors Guild, but her life, as viewed from the outside, reflected nothing of the turmoil inside.
Through Prairie Tale, Gilbert shares with fans the lowest of her lows, the highest of her highs, and everything...more
Through Prairie Tale, Gilbert shares with fans the lowest of her lows, the highest of her highs, and everything...more
Of course I had to read this book (and I'm sure my sisters will feel the same way). A fast, fun read (though it's a bit callous to call it "fun" considering all the sad events described). I especially enjoyed all the '80s Hollywood descriptions (and was interested to see how much the photos of teenage Melissa resemble my older sister, who is just a few years younger). There's not so much about Little House, though quite a bit about Michael Landon.
I'm surprised to see so man...more
I'm surprised to see so man...more
Chatty memoir of an actress best known for her work on Little House on the Prairie when she was a child. Some interesting gossip about her active love life including long relationship with (and broken engagement from) Rob Lowe, and blended family with her second husband, the actor Bruce Boxleitner. Eventful family (her father was married 13 times; her husband had a stalker who tried to break them up by intercepting author's phone calls and taping bits in which she revealed to friends an "e...more
Picked this book up on Thursday night and finished in 2 marathon reads by early Saturday morning. I grew up (like so many in my generation) watching Little House on the Prairie every week and also in syndication after school, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day if nobody took control of the TV from me. SO I loved reading about the early years of Melissa Gilbert. Ms. Gilbert tells her story carefully, it could have come off as a poor little rich girl story, but it doesn't. Melissa was a hardworking ...more
I picked up this book from the library because I was feeling like a biography and had watched Little House on the Prairie as a child. It was one of two I read this weekend and I think I'm done with autobiographies for a while (although reading Melissa's makes me want to read her co-star Alison Arngrim's). They all seem a bit self-absorbed and sort of a brag book of who you know (or maybe it was just the two I chose to read).
Saying that though, I did enjoy Melissa's book. It was extrem...more
Saying that though, I did enjoy Melissa's book. It was extrem...more
As a fan of Little House on the Prairie, I enjoyed reading about Melissa's life. She seems to have a good sense of humor and the story moves along alright until the end. At the end of the book she keeps making references to the next life that sound like reincarnation which really puzzled me since she started the book off talking about being Jewish. Actually I thought the end was poorly written; it prattles too much and does not wrap things up in a satisfactory manner.
The parts ab...more
The parts ab...more
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Celebrity autobiographies are almost always fun but sometimes so unsatisfying. It often turns out that the celebrity in question isn’t nearly as interesting as the people you know in real life, and that’s the case with this book. And if you’re looking for a warm and cozy peek behind the scenes of Little House, then skip this book for sure. Despite the misleading title, there isn’t a whole lot here about the TV series. In fact, I doubt I’ll ever look at sweet little pigtailed Laura the same aft...more
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As a child of the 70s/80s and a long-time fan of Melissa Gilbert, I really completely enjoyed this memoir. I had vocally sworn off memoirs for good (so many of them have that tell-tale "woe is me" tone), but I couldn't resist this one. Gilbert (and/or her editors) did a fabulous job with the pacing and narrative flow; it was very much a "page-turner" (again, not my experience with memoirs).
She didn't spend as much time on her years as Laura as I would have exp...more
She didn't spend as much time on her years as Laura as I would have exp...more
This is the 3rd Hollywood autobiography I’ve read this past month. It makes me wonder, what childhood actress didn’t do drugs? Didn’t have dysfunctional childhoods? Didn’t have insecurity? I have yet to read about one. Maybe Tori Spelling had a better childhood. I don't know. I haven’t read her book yet.
Out of the 3 autobiographies, this was the best one. The writing was more intelligent. The organization was better. It was overall more engaging than Valerie’s or MacKenzie’s. ...more
Out of the 3 autobiographies, this was the best one. The writing was more intelligent. The organization was better. It was overall more engaging than Valerie’s or MacKenzie’s. ...more
Can't add much to the description (below.) It held my interest, though I thought it could have been better edited. Melissa has a wry sense of humor.
Book Description from Amazon
A fascinatiating, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting tale of self-discovery from the beloved actress who earned a permanent place in the hearts of millions when she was just a child.
To fans of the hugely successful television series Little House on the Prairie, Melissa Gilbert grew up in ...more
Book Description from Amazon
A fascinatiating, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting tale of self-discovery from the beloved actress who earned a permanent place in the hearts of millions when she was just a child.
To fans of the hugely successful television series Little House on the Prairie, Melissa Gilbert grew up in ...more
Melissa Gilbert is best known for her many years of acting the part of Laura on "Little House on the Prairie". I, like many other girls, loved this tv series. The family's story is told through her eyes. She was the right mixture of obedient and mischievious. I loved seeing what she was up to each episode. This is her memoir, of her actual life. It is quite different than the person she protrayed. Now my brain knows that actresses can be quite different than the character they p...more
Having just read "Confessions of a Prairie Bitch" by Nellie Oleson (ha - that is, by Alsion who playd nellie!), I thought this book would be a great follow-up read. I was disappointed. Alison's book had a lot of detail about Little House, and I had hoped for the same from "Laura"'s point of view. It seems to have been rather glossed over, though she did talk about her relationship with Michael Landon. I just expected to hear more about such an incredibly significant part of ...more
As a long-time viewer of the Little House series, I was excited to read this book. After reading it, I found the title to be misleading. If you are looking for an actual memoir of her work on Little House, you're not going to find it here. There were few references to the actual Little House set and much more focus on Melissa Gilbert's personal life and the multitude of celebrities with whom she, her parents, or grandparents associated.
As an autobiography, it wasn't bad, but there w...more
As an autobiography, it wasn't bad, but there w...more
I loved Little House on the Prairie...and I knew she was a recovering alcholic so I looked forward to this. Especially after seeing her promoting it on some of the morning news shows. It did disappoint though. I still find it hard to believe people can remember this stuff in their lives when they are so young - and am not convinced that they really do. But it makes for a good story, I guess. And I didn't like what Melissa thought was a subtle way of letting us know that perhaps she's sexier ...more
I love to read biographies of famous people, but often shy away from the ones about TV and movie personalities. However, because I have always been such a fan of the "Little House" series, I decided to try this one. It was a fascinating read, but it made me incredibly sad to read Melissa Gilbert's own recounting of her string of failed relationships and struggle with drug addiction. While this is nothing new for a child star, trying to reconcile those memories with the picture of that ...more
In general Melissa is a decent writer, compared to a lot of celebrity books. And I enjoyed reading about her time on LHOTP though wish she'd spent more time writing about that. As we get into her boyfriend days, family days and TV movie after TV movie days I found myself not as interested. Though at the end of the book when she talks about being president of SAG and working with local children's hospice, it became interesting again. I guess I find her professional life a lot more interesting tha...more
This was an odd pick for me as I typically don't read autobiographies from semi-famous contemporary figures (I prefer historical biographies). However, I just finished this other book that had to do with Little House on the Prairie and it mentioned this book. I thought it would be cool to hear the "behind the scenes" stuff about the show. I read about half of it and have enjoyed it very much. However, once she finished up the whole "Little House" part of her life, I reali...more
If I hadn't been such a big fan of Little House on the Prairie when I was young, I probably wouldn't have finished the book. But I did finish it. My biggest problem with the book was that there seemed to be a lot of name dropping. Sometimes to me names were used that didn't really matter if they were there or not. I know Melissa knew lots of famous people, but do we really need to know every person her parents or grandparents hung out with or every person who attended the same party that she did...more
If you have been a fan of Melissa Gilbert, and you'd like to continue to be a fan, don't read this book. It's disappointing. Way too much information is revealed. The language in the book is horrible. Just unnecessary. The name dropping that goes on is beyond ridiculous. Even though adopted at birth, she comes from a very well-connected Hollywood family, and after reading this book, I would struggle to name five Hollywood actors she didn't mention. Ironically, as cute as she was, and as p...more
Compared to Allison's book, this was a very poorly written autobiography. About half way through I stopped comparing and just tried to enjoy it. She name drops like crazy. To listen to her, about 1/2 of Hollywood's leading men are either in love with her or want to sleep with her. Who knows, maybe she's right - but still, seemed a little much. Plus the name is entirely misleading - Little House is a small blurb in this book. I think she writes more about being SAG President than she does about...more
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“My therapist shared a theory she had come across, and I liked it. It held that before making your next journey in this life, your soul sits at a large, circular conference table and chooses the souls who are going to be a part of your life. As for which particular people would be chosen, I figured they would be individuals from previous lives with whom there was still unfinished business.”
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