Alison Arngrim

Well this is way more entertaining than I would have thought possible from a memoir by an actress who played a second tier character on a TV show in the '70s. Arngrim has a dark, caustic wit which she applies liberally to herself, her family and her castmates. She shares dark secrets and set gossip but leavens it all with a positive tone and outlook. Sure, Melissa Sue Anderson becomes the butt of a running joke and her brother is deservedly castigated, but Arngrim never crosses over into the show more realm of sheer cruelty practiced by the character she is famous for playing.

Best LOL revelation of the book: the reason Jonathan Gilbert only read the pages of the Little House scripts with his lines. show less

This was a superb little book (too short!) that had me laughing in all the right places, and not scaring the cats.

For those expecting a Tell-All you might be slightly disappointed. Instead, it's a Tell-Just-Enough -- a wonderful synopsis of the tribulations of a child actor who had the eyes of the world on her for seven years, watching her every move. That she survived to become such a delightfully stable, funny and compassionate person defies all the odds; and yet, Alison Arngrim is all show more those things, and more.

Her acerbic wit is razor sharp and refreshing in such a work. The usual memoirs run in monotones, the writers lugubriously bewailing their assorted injustices and afflictions. Arngrim chooses to stand tall and deliver an in-your-face non-apologia for the Nellie Olsen that resides in her.

It was Nellie Olsen, in fact, who taught her how to be a stronger version of herself, and to whose characterization she ascribes her strength. The percipience of such self-knowledge is what is especially fascinating to me -- to be so self-aware and discerning at 20, when most of us struggle our entire lives trying to find out who we are.

I enjoyed the juicy tidbits of Little House memorabilia, certainly, but more than anything, I enjoyed Alison Arngrim/Nellie Oleson delivering her acquired wisdom in a fresh and reflective mood that leaves you feeling you've just had one of the best conversations of your life with your best friend.

PS -- And for those of us who didn't like Miss-Goody-Two-Shoes Mary Ingalls, it turns out we had some percipience of our own going on there. : ) show less

This is an EXCELLENT memoir (autobiography? whatever.). AA is a really good writer, in the sense that a) you begin to understand what it was like to be her, b) you care about what it was like to be her, and c) she doesn't leave you hanging with things like "whatever happened to...?" I was particularly impressed with how she handled her abuse, friend's passing, and clearly totally crazy family life. It was also heartwarming how she and Melissa Gilbert have always been bffs.

And Mary was the show more bitch! Love it! While I'm not a real Little House fan (too wholesome for even me, DQMW fan), it made me want to watch some more episodes, now that I can truly appreciate Nellie, whose wig always terrified me more than almost anything else in Walnut Grove. show less

Oh, how I loved this book! It made me howl with laughter. Arngrim may have had a tortured childhood, but she does not wallow in self-pity or misery. It's clear that her years on LOTP gave her more structure and consistency and safety than her own family did.

This is not for a sentimental LOTP fan.