Prairie Tale by Melissa Gilbert Book Review

An Intimate Look at "Half Pint's" Life and Career

Sep 9, 2009

Melissa Gilbert is brutally honest about her life in this autobiography that covers everything from her adoption to addiction.

In Prairie Tale, life in Hollywood is exposed by Melissa Gilbert as she writes frankly and openly about the sex, drugs, and alcoholism that run rampant in the entertainment industry. Gilbert describes a sort of Jackie Collins lifestyle, even though she says Collins writes in excesses. However, reading Gilbert’s life story, she has lived excesses, and this is not a novel. It is a true story.

Melissa Gilbert was adopted when she was a day old. She had no knowledge about her birth parents until she was an adult and finally located her birth father. Even though she had a loving family, the idea of being put up for adoption always weighed heavily on her mind.

In this book, Gilbert goes into detail about her sexual experiences, and weaves a web of Hollywood sexcapades. This woman has been through a lot and doesn’t pull any punches when writing about her life.

Melissa Gilbert and Rob Lowe’s Relationship and Engagement

Rob Lowe was a major part of her life. Their on-again-off-again relationship and engagement took a toll on her. She had invested many years with him, but in the end his commitment phobia was the final straw. Even though she felt a deep connection to him, they couldn’t work it out.

Melissa confides that she was once pregnant with Lowe’s child. She was in the process of deciding what to do. He didn’t want the responsibility of fatherhood at that time. She didn’t want to give it up for adoption, having been an adopted child herself. She narrowed her choices down to keeping the child and raising it as a single mother, or having an abortion. In the end she didn’t have to make that decision because she had a miscarriage.

Extreme Sex, Drugs, and Alcoholism in the Entertainment Industry

Gilbert goes into detail about her first marriage to Bo Brinkman and his dependency on her for his over-the-top lifestyle. She also describes him flaunting his infidelities in front of her, and the emotional abuse he put her through.

But Melissa Gilbert also confesses that she herself cheated on her boyfriends at times, even with their best friends. She paints a picture of bed hopping within the Hollywood community. Apparently Jackie Collins’ excesses in her novels are not really too excessive. According to Gilbert, the sex, drugs, and alcohol that infects the entertainment industry is extreme.

Bruce Boxleitner and Their Sons Provide Melissa Support and Love

From the outside it looks like her second marriage to Bruce Boxleitner is a fairy tale. What she describes is a marriage that many times almost split apart, but through dedication and a lot of therapy managed to stay solid. She is most comfortable in the role of mother, and prides herself on her relationships with her sons.

Besides her many sexual interludes, Melissa Gilbert describes her drug use as well as her alcoholism. And in the end of the book she describes her recovery.

Plastic surgery is another topic that is not off-limits in this book. Melissa comfortably writes about her nose jobs. She had to have several as the first was a botched surgery. She also confides that she had breast surgery.

From her experience on Little House on the Prairie and her close relationship with Michael Landon, to her presidency of the Screen Actors Guild, Melissa Gilbert is open and honest and at times brutally so. She writes about her father, mother, father-figures, grandfather, husbands, boyfriends, co-workers, and even an evening (non-sexual) with Bill Clinton.

Being brought up in a show business family, Melissa Gilbert has it in her blood, figuratively, not literally. This book was cathartic for her. She took a close look at her life and wrote it all down for the world to scrutinize, which is a brave thing to do. In the end, she came out more knowledgeable about herself, and readers will see a different side to Melissa than what she portrays onscreen. As Half-Pint she was an innocent girl. But Melissa Gilbert was far from innocent and led a very wild, passionate, and extreme life.

The copyright of the article Prairie Tale by Melissa Gilbert Book Review in Actor Biographies is owned by Francine Brokaw. Permission to republish Prairie Tale by Melissa Gilbert Book Review in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Sep 28, 2009 10:06 AM

Guest :

So why did she deem it nescesarry to admit to the world she was a whore?

Nov 7, 2009 4:52 PM

Guest :

She's a very courageous woman. The whole story or nothing. To pick out only the positive things wouldn't be honest. I never would accuse her by anything. Life's there to learn. Bad people's memoirs really look different. Unfortunately I didn't cross her ways in the early 80's to save her life ;-)