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Aaron Smith

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Prairie Tale

by Melissa Gilbert

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Aaron Smith said: " The book is fairly sparing on her relationships with her former "Little House" cast members, with the exception of Michael Landon, whom she always regarded as a father figure, and her close friendship with Alison Arngrim (borne out by Arngrim's own m The book is fairly sparing on her relationships with her former "Little House" cast members, with the exception of Michael Landon, whom she always regarded as a father figure, and her close friendship with Alison Arngrim (borne out by Arngrim's own memoir). She gives fairly short shrift to onscreen husband Dean Butler, whom she apparently was not pleased to work with due her self-consciousness over their age difference.

Her personal life is given very throrough treatment (almost uncomfortably so, for someone who grew up in such privileged circumstances--we almost want to shake her and scream "What do you have to complain about?!"), but it does help explain the tightly-wound perfectionist that she became and lays the groundwork for her troubled relationships with Rob Lowe (and her competitive relationship with the rest of his "brat pack") and first husband Bo Brinkman, and her later substance abuse issues. The premature birth of her son Michael Boxleitner, and his struggle for survival, is also a wrenching passage.

Three quarters of the way through the book is where things start to "hot up" for those of us who like reading about the mechanical politics of entertainment labor. Gilbert describes her election to the board of directors of the Screen Actors Guild and her dissatisfaction with the time-wasting parliamentary procedure of some other members (notably "Adam 12's" Kent McCord, whom she describes as a "blowhard," although knowledgeable, and Valerie Harper, who "had an annoying habit of saying, 'uh-hum' and 'yeah' whenever someone was talking...she was always a second voice in the room." Her exasperation leads her to accept Richard Masur's suggestion that she run for the office of SAG president, and we are treated to the details of the ensuing race against opponent Harper, which had to be decided twice, as the election committee insisted a new election be held. (I'd love to read Valerie Harper's side of this, since she does not come off well in Gilbert's version. At all.) I'm interested to read about the remainder of her SAG presidency (we haven't reached the Alan Rosenberg years yet).

Still about 50 more pages to go...I wasn't wild about this book up through the first half, because it seemed like whenever she makes a misstep, there's an immediate "yes, but" reaction, which I found faintly self-serving. But this is her story, and I guess she can tell it however she wants. Worth reading even for just the passages about her catching on to Rob Lowe's infidelities (watch Mario Cantone on YouTube for a hilarious interpretation) and her rapprochement with Michael Landon at the end of his life, which is very touching stuff. ...more "

Feb 28, 2012 08:13AM · see review

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Life

by Keith Richards

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Aaron Smith said: " Really fascinating read, and contains lots of the juicy stories you would expect from the co-leader of one of the (arguably) greatest rock bands of the 20th century. He gives a pretty fair treatment to just about everyone, although it's hard to make ...more "

Oct 04, 2011 12:47PM · see review