The Way I See It: A Look Back at My Life on Little House by Melissa Anderson

Dec 31, 2012 Kressel Housman rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: hollywood, little-house, memoir

After reading the memoirs of “Little House on the Prairie” actresses Melissa Gilbert and Alison Arngrim, both of which depict co-star Melissa Sue Anderson as aloof at best and downright mean at worst, I thought Melissa Sue deserved a chance to defend herself in her own memoir. Whether or not she’s mean, I can’t say. As I think she wrote her memoir after theirs, she had her chance to get back at them, and she didn’t. She told only one negative story about Melissa Gilbert’s attention-seeking and w...more After reading the memoirs of “Little House on the Prairie” actresses Melissa Gilbert and Alison Arngrim, both of which depict co-star Melissa Sue Anderson as aloof at best and downright mean at worst, I thought Melissa Sue deserved a chance to defend herself in her own memoir. Whether or not she’s mean, I can’t say. As I think she wrote her memoir after theirs, she had her chance to get back at them, and she didn’t. She told only one negative story about Melissa Gilbert’s attention-seeking and was fairly neutral about Alison. The aloofness, however, does come through. It’s not so much that she didn’t share intimate details about her life – I, for one, don’t want to read about a star’s experiences in the bedroom – but her tone wasn’t as warm or funny as the other two, and all the friends she mentioned had nothing to do with Little House. Also, the dialogue didn’t always seem natural (how many different people called her “kiddo”?) and it was sometimes written in script form, which was gimmicky.

Mostly, the book summarizes the plots of the episodes in Little House where Mary had a key role and gives a little behind-the-scenes description. Since my main interest is what went on behind the scenes, I usually found the plot summaries excessive, but there was one notable exception: where she discussed the research and method she used in playing a blind character. She went to a real school for the blind for training and said, “If there’s one thing I’m proud of, it’s my blind stare.” She’s right; she did a great job at it. Even if she was as cold as her co-stars said she was, they can’t knock her as an actress.

If she dishes the dirt on anyone, it’s Michael Landon. The other two did this to a lesser extent. All three acknowledged his bad temper, his drinking, and how he left his wife for a younger woman. All three respected him professionally and enjoyed working with him. But because Melissa Anderson also had a role in a TV movie about his early life, I learned more about him from her book. She told about his abusive mother and the cruel streak he learned from her. She describes him humiliating a stutterer on set once – something Nellie did in the plot of one episode. Is that where the idea came from? Melissa Anderson doesn’t say so, but that’s how I connect the dots.

So let me take it a few steps further. One of the plots that the book mentions involves Laura and Albert trying to sell some honey to Mrs. Oleson so that they can pay for Mary and Adam to take a stagecoach somewhere. Mrs. Oleson won’t give them the price they want, so they sell her their whole hive, giving her incorrect advice that guarantees that she’ll be stung, probably multiple times. Now I ask you: where is the morality here? Laura is supposed to be good, and Mrs. Oleson is supposed to be bad, so if Laura takes revenge against her, that’s perfectly acceptable, right? How about if that revenge is dangerous and completely out of proportion to the original offense?

Another plot line the book describes is when Mary slaps Nellie.
(Alison Arngrim’s book discusses the slap, too.) Apparently, the audience loved it. Heck, I loved watching the Olesons get their come-uppance every week. But the original books don’t condone revenge; just take a look at Ma’s poem to Laura in Little Town on the Prairie. As Alison Arngrim said in her book, Little House was the most Christian series ever shown in the history of television, but this Jew is wondering what happened to the most central value they profess: forgiveness.

Both Melissa Gilbert’s and Melissa Anderson’s books tell the story of the very last episode in which Michael Landon decided to blow up the entire set so that nobody else could use it. In the show, the characters sing “Onward Christian Soldiers” and then use a wagon load of dynamite to keep their town out of the hands of the new landowner. Is that “Christian” behavior?

The fact is, Michael Landon was religiously confused. He was born Eugene Orowitz, the son of a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother. According to Torah, that means he was a non-Jew, but a rabbi officiated at his funeral anyway. As Alison Arngrim pointed out, he gave voice to his unorthodox views on interfaith childrearing by marrying her character to a Jew. She also adds, “Then he just simplified things by making himself an angel” (in his next series “Highway to Heaven”).

Now I don’t mean to bash Michael Landon too hard; his mother sounded like the ultimate witch, and it’s incredible that he grew up to be so successful after such an upbringing. I learned in my own writing classes that the best material comes from our dearest wishes and our deepest fears. Taking revenge on people through writing is considered bad form, but those emotions are probably a rich source of material, too. And Michael Landon tapped into all of it: he created his dearest wish by creating the idyllic TV family. He tapped into our worst fears with all the melodrama that was such a departure from the books. And he gave us revenge: Laura versus Nellie week after week. And thousands of people loved it, including me.

This review has gone far astray of Melissa Anderson’s book. It’s interesting only if you really loved “Little House.” I really loved “Little House,” and I love knowing that out of all those crazy Laura/Nellie fight scenes grew a decades-long friendship, which is the lesson you’ll get from Alison Arngrim’s book. But considering that rebellious Rose Wilder may have been the real author of the books and that neither Rose nor Laura got any of the wealth created by the TV series, I guess Michael Landon’s dark side is just one more irony of the entire “Little House” phenomenon.
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Jul 27, 2011 Thebookthief rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: not-if-it-were-last-book-on-earth

I'll be honest; I tried to read this book. In the end, I wound up skimming it because it was written so badly.

Anderson spends rather too much time addressing what she wore to bring out the colour of her eyes, or otherwise flattering herself, and the majority of the book is little more than recaps of various Little House episodes. Then there are the scenes where she will recount conversations from decades before, miraculously word for word. Sometimes she even attempts to recreate them by writing...more

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Mar 10, 2013 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

See this review on 1776books.net...
http://1776books.blogspot.com/2010/05...

I am going to start this with a disclaimer that I am a HUGE Little House on the Prairie fan...both the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder and the television show. The Way I See It: A Look Back at My Life on Little House is by Melissa Anderson (known as Melissa Sue Anderson on the show), who played Mary Ingalls. The fact that I am a huge fan plays heavily into my review. I strongly suggest that if you have never seen or never c...more

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Sep 29, 2012 Candice rated it 2 of 5 stars

And so here is my second review of the memoirs of Little House kid actors.

I really wanted to like this book more - Mary is a lovable character after all - but Melissa Anderson (she dropped the "Sue" as an adult) simply wasn't intimate enough for me.

The chapters of her book revolved around the seasons of Little House, which was OK, and she did give quite a bit of dirt about what went on behind the scenes (Ma & Pa didn't get along offscreen! Gasp! But what great acting!). The truth is I spent...more

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Sep 13, 2012 Sarah rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir

"The Way I See It" starts abruptly with the author getting a call from her agent about auditioning for Little House. There is no back story given, and from the start, it is assumed that the reader already knows quite a bit about the show and the actors involved. The writing was choppy, often moving from one topic to the next from paragraph to paragraph with no transition. Much of the book was recaps of her favorite episodes, which she was apparently watching as she wrote the book.
I wanted to rea...more

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May 19, 2012 Carolyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. I appreciate Melissa Anderson's clean approach to telling her story which means "no use of profanity." It was an easy read, unlike Melissa Gilbert's book which contained too much unnecessary use of profanity and sexual relationships. Melissa Anderson's story shows that actors and actresses can lead a clean life without constant marriage breakups and having sex with every person one meets. She has a lot of morals about her that is highly appreciated. This is a book tha...more

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Jan 26, 2012 Natalie rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book was DULL. I liked the beginning, highlighting the pilot and little insider notes. I found myself Googling the area in California where it was shot and feeling nostalgic for the 70's. After the first 20 pages, I even Youtubed the pilot, and watched it again, some 30 years after I watched it as a kid. But the format in which this memoir was written was too weird to be engaging.

Firstly, it feels like she had the whole series out and was watching the episodes while writing down notes then...more

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Jul 19, 2011 Relyn rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: no one, really

Recommended to Relyn by: Allison Arngrim

Shelves: just-couldn-t-finish-it

I recently read Little Bitch on the Prairie by Allison Arngrim. It was interesting and funny and a really good read. It wasn't at all like what I have long assumed celebrity autobiographies are like. Not full of name dropping and self promotion. Not full of so much "who the heck cares?" detail. Allison's book was funny, witty and full of heart. And she didn't seem to think much of Melissa Anderson. So, of course, I had to find out more.

Bummer. Melissa's book didn't shed much light on what I was...more

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Jul 09, 2011 Kelly rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: autobiography

I got this book at the same time I got Alison Arngrim's book and since it was a lot shorter I read it first and finished it quite quickly. I have to say I was a bit disappointed. Most of the book was just a rehash of the plots of the Little House episodes she was featured in with a few extra tidbits here and there. It did bring back a lot of memories of watching these episodes but the book read more like a movie commentary, you know where the director or one of the actors just gab while the movi...more

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Feb 03, 2011 Jenn rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography-autobiography

I know this got panned, and I can see why. She is not a great writer. She seemed to be trying too hard to be funny. But I liked that this book focused on Little House on the Prairie episodes and her remembrances of the episodes that were more Mary-centric (new word I just made up - call Webster's). She recapped the episodes for the reader and adding a few tidbits here and there, it is a light book, and she was not a trouble-maker, drug abuser, or in financial problems, so if you are looking for...more

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Jan 05, 2011 Cheryl Gatling added it

Remember that opening scene to The Little House on the Prairie, when the girls were running downhill in a field of wildflowers? Well, nothing was actually growing at that time of year, and all the flowers were plastic, stuck into the ground on little wires. That's the kind of fun thing you learn reading this book. Word on the street says that this is one dull memoir, and by today's standards, it is. Melissa Anderson (called Melissa Sue Anderson back in the day) was never abused, never did drugs,...more

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Sep 23, 2010 Cara rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: about-real-people, fun-or-frivolity

This book was super boring. After reading Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by the actress who played Nellie Oleson, I was very curious about Melissa Sue Anderson, who played Mary and was apparently quite a little snot to the other child actresses, if not to everybody. I was hoping this book would give her perspective and explain what was going on. Totally not, however. The vast majority of the book was a rehash of the plots of the Little House episodes featuring Mary. That was probably 85%, then a...more This book was super boring. After reading Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by the actress who played Nellie Oleson, I was very curious about Melissa Sue Anderson, who played Mary and was apparently quite a little snot to the other child actresses, if not to everybody. I was hoping this book would give her perspective and explain what was going on. Totally not, however. The vast majority of the book was a rehash of the plots of the Little House episodes featuring Mary. That was probably 85%, then another 10% was "and then I got X part on show Y, and that was really cool because I got to work with famous people A, B, and C. Here's the plot of that...." The Little House plot rehashes were boring enough, but at least I had seen those, so I could look on it with some fondness. These other shows and movies offered me nothing.

I'm really disappointed that there was almost no personal content in this book whatsoever. What did she think? How did she feel? What was her family like? Nothing. There were a few snipes at Melissa Gilbert, but even those weren't direct enough to inspire much interest.

One part that surprised me was a bit about Michael Landon having an affair with, and eventually marrying, Melissa Sue Anderson's double. But even that was limited to a few paragraphs and covered with a surprising degree of blandness. Michael Landon's death? Three sentences, even though they were friends again by then and had worked together on a bunch of other stuff besides Little House. Even when the author gets married, it's told in two detached paragraphs. Is this woman a robot? Or maybe she just didn't want to share herself or her feelings with the public... in which case, why write this book???

Also, the dialog was really awkward, and she very cheesily used the device of presenting things in script format occasionally, with even more awkwardness than the straight writing. Very lame. Overall, the only explanation I can offer for having finished reading this book is that I was bored.

P.S. In addition to stories of life on the set, Melissa offers revealing looks at her relationships off-set with her costars, including the other Melissa (Melissa Gilbert) and Alison Arngrim, who portrayed Nellie Oleson on the show. from the book cover? Lies. That's what I wanted to see, and the closest she came to this was writing that one time she and Melissa Gilbert went to an amusement park with Michael Landon and his kids, and people recognized them and she felt sorry for Michael Landon's kids because he ended up signing a bunch of autographs all day, and another time she says Melissa Gilbert acted like a little kid even off camera (she was 9). That's it. Ooh, deep stuff there--not!
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Jun 25, 2010 Cheryl C. rated it 3 of 5 stars

In her new memoir, "The Way I See It: A Look Back at My Life on Little House", Melissa Anderson, who played Mary Ingalls on the classic family show Little House on the Prairie, shares her memories of several Little House episodes and her career during her time on the iconic show.

Taking readers from her initial meeting with beloved creator, actor and producer, Michael Landon, through After-School Specials, Love Boat episodes, The Equalizer, and more, Anderson speaks fondly of the career she temp...more In her new memoir, "The Way I See It: A Look Back at My Life on Little House", Melissa Anderson, who played Mary Ingalls on the classic family show Little House on the Prairie, shares her memories of several Little House episodes and her career during her time on the iconic show.

Taking readers from her initial meeting with beloved creator, actor and producer, Michael Landon, through After-School Specials, Love Boat episodes, The Equalizer, and more, Anderson speaks fondly of the career she temporarily left behind to raise her family.

Out of the three books recently written by Little House on the Prairie cast members, this is the one I wanted to read the most. We still hear a lot about Melissa Gilbert and Alison Arngrim, but Anderson walked away from the business and had maintained her privacy for years. Knowing she was finally ready to discuss with fans her Little House years, found me pre-ordering the book from Amazon as soon as it was posted. Despite the fact that I have over 60 books in my TBR pile, the minute this book arrived on my doorstep, I cracked it open and began reading. Perhaps that's why my disappointment seems so great.

I wanted to get to know more about Melissa Anderson, her relationships with the cast and crew of my favorite show, and how she handled being a child star. It ended with me not feeling I learned much more than when I started.

"The Way I See It" is mostly recaps of Little House episodes in which the character of Mary played a significant role. In addition, there are spots where the dialogue from the episodes is quoted. Having been a fan since childhood, I could probably recite most of these episodes back from memory.

While Anderson shared some memories of Michael Landon and Karen Grassle, the rest of the cast and crew received minimal nods. She didn't speak ill of them, but I felt after so long on a show, she would have more to share about those people she grew up around. I wasn't looking for dirt on who she might not have gotten along with, but it seems like her need for privacy prevented her from offering anything new to readers.

I admire Melissa Anderson. She's beautiful, she's talented, and I would love to see her back on the small screen again. She gave up her career to raise her family and she's not sorry about it. While I am glad I purchased the book so that I can add it to my Laura Ingalls Wilder/LHOP collection, I wish she had been willing to open up more about the role that defined her career.(less)

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Apr 12, 2012 Bonnie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm surprised the ratings for this book were so terrible. I read it before I saw the ratings, so I had no expectations other than my love for Little House. It was must see TV when I was little.
Anderson uses the book as an episode guide. She does add in her work on other projects (she did a lot! I only ever knew her from LH).
I do however, agree with an observation from another review- recreating conversations from 40 years ago unnerved me. I just think this could have been done differently. I don...more

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Jan 12, 2011 Camille Dorris rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

I was excited when I saw this book as Mary was always my favorite character on Little House on the Prairie, but it was a little disappointing. The majority of the book was rehashing some on the episodes of each season of the show. I wasn't looking for dirt or gossip, but it was so detached and emotionless that it felt like someone was watching the shows and commenting, not being retold by someone who was on the show from the beginning.

She talked very little about the other people on the show an...more

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Nov 18, 2011 Kristin rated it 1 of 5 stars

This may be the worst Little House memoir of all. It is the unemotional and cold account of Melissa Sue Anderson's time on Little House On the Prairie. It was so unbelievably dull. At the time I read it my life was extremely stressful and this book certainly didn't tax my brain and it enabled me to fall asleep each night with ease.

I have to wonder what the point of this book was? To relive a cherished time in America's golden age of wholesome TV? Um no. To put to rest the rumors that she was unf...more This may be the worst Little House memoir of all. It is the unemotional and cold account of Melissa Sue Anderson's time on Little House On the Prairie. It was so unbelievably dull. At the time I read it my life was extremely stressful and this book certainly didn't tax my brain and it enabled me to fall asleep each night with ease.

I have to wonder what the point of this book was? To relive a cherished time in America's golden age of wholesome TV? Um no. To put to rest the rumors that she was unfriendly and difficult? Or even to tell her side of the story? Um no. This book contains very little depth and the bulk of it consists of Melissa Sue (she doesn't care to be called that BTW) sitting watching the DVDs...hitting pause...writing down the blow-by-blow account of her more memorable episodes with very little commentary. Bizarre. Equally bizarre is when describing something that might actually be interesting she writes it in a screen play format...Lest you try to ferret out any emotion from her whatsoever.

This was such a strange book. Even some of her pictures where copies of newspaper clippings etc. The very few family pictures she included were years old and there were absolutely zero photos of her parents. In fact, there is hardly any biographical information from her life prior to Little House. It is strange to read a "memoir" with such little personal content. There is a bit more at the end of the book about meeting her husband and having her children. But it still lacks any depth and is so detached and bland that who cares by this point anyway.

After reading this book it doesn't appear that she had any friends on the set or that she keeps in touch with anyone. From information gleaned from reading both Melissa Gilbert's book and Alison Arngrim's book she doesn't come to any Little House reunions. Things like this only lend credence to the claims of her former costars about her onset behavior.

There is no reason to read this book. Watch the DVDs and imagine her voice describing everything. "Mary walks in...Adam smiles. Ma says...blah blah blah." That's what this book is...blah, bland, detached and a total bore.

My Review: Boring with a capital B.
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Jan 23, 2012 Kim rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: library, not-finished

You have to be a real Little House fan to even care about 3/4 of what she has written. Apparently, her "research" for this book involved watching every old episode of the show, and giving her memories from the shooting of each. Each chapter contains a episode summary form one or two shows, with passive-aggressive stabs at her co-stars sprinkled throughout.
I picked up this book, because I kind of felt she was being portrayed unfairly by her costars in their memoirs.... What do you know: they wer...more

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May 13, 2010 Rhonda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography

have to honestly say that this book was so much better than the Melissa Gilbert book. The reason that it was so much better and deserves five stars is because it focused more on "Little House", had a lot of wonderful stories, the pictures were great and went deeper into the life of Melissa Sue Anderson without having anything vulgar in it. I reccommend it to all of the bookworms like me, and also for big fans of "Little House"(which I am also.)

You get to see more of the personality of Michael...more

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Apr 27, 2012 Sharon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography

After reading some of the other reviews, I was a little nervous about reading this book, but I am finding the book to be charming. It is as though little Mary Ingalls was writing it. Like some other reviewers have stated, it is apparent that Melissa is watching the episodes as she's writing it. I find that to be interesting because it's as though one is sitting beside her watching the episodes with her as she shares her personal experiences, her thoughts and views of the episodes and those that...more

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Jul 03, 2010 NerdGirlBlogger rated it 1 of 5 stars

The Way I See It A Look Back At My Life On Little House by Melissa Anderson was the most disappointing memoir I've EVER read. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was to read this book, especially after meeting Ms. Anderson at the Book Expo America in May. I even had a nice conversation with Melissa and she was kind enough to not only autograph my book but she posed for a picture with me as well. You seem, I loved Little House on The Prairie, as did most girls back in the 70's and 80's,...more The Way I See It A Look Back At My Life On Little House by Melissa Anderson was the most disappointing memoir I've EVER read. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was to read this book, especially after meeting Ms. Anderson at the Book Expo America in May. I even had a nice conversation with Melissa and she was kind enough to not only autograph my book but she posed for a picture with me as well. You seem, I loved Little House on The Prairie, as did most girls back in the 70's and 80's, and I had read all of the Little House books as well. Little House was an American phenomenon, a major part of my childhood, and I needed to hear what Melissa Sue Anderson felt and experienced while working on that show. As much as that show meant to me, I was desperate to find out what it meant to her. Of all the girls on the show, I identified with Mary's character the most, as we had the failing vision thing and manners thing in common. It breaks my heart to have to admit my disappointment publically, but I feel I should always write my book reviews truthfully.

I suppose this book is so disappointing to me because it was written so detached, so unemotional, so coldly. Nothing special or deep came from the author, and when a person is writing about one of the most beloved television series of all time, shouldn't one use emotion when describing those memories? My prime example of her lack of emotion is this - the words she used to describe Michael Landon's death. Melissa Gilbert and Alison Arngrim went on and on in their memoirs about his death and wrote of the shock and pain they experienced due to his passing. Here is what Melissa wrote: "When Mike died on July 1st, 1991, USA Today called to ask me for a quote. I told them that he was "America's Family Man." It was the truth." Three short, cold and totally unemotional sentences. Uh, gee Mary, thanks for sharing that. How very deep of you. (Actually, what I want to write is WTF?, but I'm trying to keep this positive.)

You can read the rest of my review here:

http://thegirlfromtheghetto.wordpress...(less)

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Aug 30, 2011 Jennifer rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: biographies, entertainment-tv-movies-etc

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 19, 2010 Jenny rated it 2 of 5 stars

Most reviewers have already said it... This book is largely just a total rehash of LHOTP episode plots featuring Anderson. In some cases, that is interesting - and she does drop in a few tidbits of information here and there. But it makes up the BULK of the book - and this book is not particularly long to begin with.

She really offers no real look inside her life - other than some cringingly awkward vignettes written in faux screenplay format. Did she even have an editor? Was her editor too scare...more

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Jan 01, 2011 Myra rated it 2 of 5 stars

Melissa Anderson reminisces on her years playing Mary Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie, and what it was like to grow up on this classic show.

Overall, I was very disappointed in this book. Melissa spent at least half of the book basically transcribing scenes from various episodes that she was in, occasionally offered a comment about them here or there. After about the tenth time this happened, I found myself basically skimming those parts, hoping for some substance. Sadly, I never really fo...more

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Oct 16, 2010 Leslie rated it 1 of 5 stars

The Way I See It lacked any depth. The book made me wonder if she remembers her time on Little House. She mentioned at the beginning that she was doing her research for the book by watching the episodes over again. That was obvious: The book read very much like a report. It consisted of synopses of various episodes with an occasional "It was neat to work with that actor/actress," etc.

Any mention of her co-stars is very vague, with comments of, "So-and-so probably wasn't happy about that." The ex...more

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Jul 25, 2010 Brooke added it

Out of all the "Little House" books I've read, this was my least favorite. It was basically a re-hashing of all the episodes Melissa Anderson acted in, and how wonderful she was in them. Now, I'm a huge fan of Little House, and I always identified with Mary more (as she's the oldest, blind, etc..) but I feel like Melissa Anderson really took away from the show. I don't want to hear how Katherine Grassle and Michael Landon fought on the show-I want them to be "Ma" and "Pa" and love each other. I...more

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Oct 09, 2011 Annie rated it 1 of 5 stars

I must admit, I didn't even get through this one. I have read these Little House in the Prairie/autobiography-type books by Melissa Gilbert and Alison Arngrim and this one was just plain boring! It was not to me at all. Basically, all Ms. Anderson does is take each episode she was in and give his a rather bland synopsis - that is the ENTIRE book!!! Sure, there are slight point-of-view from her perspective, but it was very uninteresting. Both Ms. Arngrim and Ms. Gilbert said in their books that M...more

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Jul 03, 2011 Camelama rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-but-do-not-own

Another autobiography that could have used a lot more editing, some writing assitance, and a few more revisions.

Hated - oh so strongly hated - the faux screenplay text portions of the book. Geez. Just tell your story. Don't make us parse through a fake screenplay to figure out what's going on.

Hated the line by line re-enactments of individual Little House episodes. We know - we've watched them. We don't need you telling us all about them again. Spend more time on how you felt in those episodes,...more

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Feb 17, 2013 Kelly rated it 1 of 5 stars

I was disappointed with this book. Melissa Anderson simply reviewed each episode in the Little House series that she acted in. There was very little to none of her thoughts, opinions, and interactions. She basically just summarized what the episode was about. She barely mentioned her interactions, friendships, etc with the other actors she worked with. She simply stated that it was exciting to work with some of the guest stars or that Matthew L (the actor who played Albert) was an excellent acto...more

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Feb 07, 2011 Ashley rated it 1 of 5 stars

If I wanted an episode guide to Little House, I would use Wikipedia.

I found this book painful to read and ended up skimming the last half of it. Where's all the behind-the-scenes stuff? It was very lightly sprinkled in with boring episode descriptions. I felt like I was reading an essay written by a 6th grader.

I also found the book to be completely unrealistic. It read as if Melissa rarely had problems, and the problems she had were made cute by her dialogue and dry descriptions. When I read a m...more

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Jun 09, 2011 Carry rated it 1 of 5 stars

What utter tripe. Wow, this woman really thinks highly of herself. I can't tell you the amount of times she wrote about her white teeth and how she used Pearl Drops to get them that way. Most of the book is a re-telling of each of her best episodes. There was little information about her relationships with family or cast. She is quick to point out how beautiful she was, how talented everyone said she was and how she is the perfect parent. It's quite disgusting. She seems to believe she was the b...more

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