Author Guide · Memoir
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Selma Blair is known to most readers from Cruel Intentions (1999) and Legally Blonde (2001). In October 2018 she announced that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and in 2021 the documentary Introducing, Selma Blair followed her through treatment. A year later she published her own account of the life before and after that diagnosis: Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up, released on 17 May 2022 and a New York Times bestseller. The title comes from the first story she ever heard about herself: that she was a mean, mean baby. This guide covers her one key book, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 1 key books · 2022–2022 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Selma Blair has published one book, the memoir Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up (2022). It covers her childhood in Michigan, her relationship with her mother, drinking and sobriety, her acting career and her 2018 diagnosis with multiple sclerosis. Start there; below is what the book covers and how it connects to the 2021 documentary about her.
Where to Start with Selma Blair
If you want her own account
→ Mean Baby (2022) — her only book, published in 2022.
If you know her from Cruel Intentions or Legally Blonde
→ Mean Baby (2022) — the years behind those films, in her words.
Selma Blair’s Book
Mean Baby
Blair’s memoir of growing up in Michigan, her relationship with her mother, her drinking and her sobriety, her career in film and her diagnosis with multiple sclerosis, which she made public in 2018. It was published on 17 May 2022 by Knopf and became a New York Times bestseller; Blair reads the audiobook herself.
How to Read Selma Blair
There is only one book, so there is no order to follow. Mean Baby stands on its own; you do not need to have seen her films or the documentary first.
If you want a second look at the same years, the documentary Introducing, Selma Blair (2021) shows the period of her MS treatment that the last part of the book writes about.
A reading path
1. Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up (2022)
2. the documentary Introducing, Selma Blair (2021)
The years · 1972–2022
Quick facts about Selma Blair
- Known for
- Her film roles in the late 1990s and 2000s, including Cruel Intentions and Legally Blonde, and her public account of living with multiple sclerosis
- 1972
- Born in Southfield, Michigan
- 1999
- Cruel Intentions
- 2001
- Legally Blonde
- 2018
- Announces her MS diagnosis
- 2022
- Mean Baby
- Born
- 23 June 1972, Southfield, Michigan
- Known for
- Cruel Intentions (1999), Legally Blonde (2001), Hellboy (2004)
- Diagnosis
- Multiple sclerosis, made public in October 2018
- Documentary
- Introducing, Selma Blair (2021)
- Book
- Mean Baby (2022)
The red mark is 2022: Mean Baby, her memoir.
How Selma Blair Writes: A Memoir of Growing Up
Mean Baby is a memoir in the plainest sense: Blair tells her own life roughly from childhood onwards, in the first person, and the subtitle, A Memoir of Growing Up, describes its scope. The title comes from the first story she heard about herself as a child: that she had been a mean, mean baby.
Much of the book is about the relationship between Blair and her mother, and about drinking, which began in her childhood, and about getting sober.
The later chapters cover the multiple sclerosis diagnosis she made public in 2018, the period also filmed for the 2021 documentary Introducing, Selma Blair. The book was written after her treatment, so it looks back on those years rather than reporting them as they happen.
Watch
Selma Blair on Mean Baby
Selma Blair talks to CBS about her memoir Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up.
Frequently asked questions about Selma Blair’s book
How many books has Selma Blair written?
One: the memoir Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up, published in 2022.
What are Selma Blair’s books in order?
There is one book so far: Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up (2022).
Where should I start with Selma Blair?
With Mean Baby (2022), her only book. If you want more after it, watch the documentary Introducing, Selma Blair (2021).
What is Selma Blair’s most famous book?
Mean Baby (2022), her memoir, which was a New York Times bestseller.
What is Mean Baby about?
Blair’s life from childhood: growing up in Michigan, her relationship with her mother, drinking and sobriety, her acting career and her 2018 diagnosis with multiple sclerosis.
Why is it called Mean Baby?
It comes from the first story she ever heard about herself: that she was a mean, mean baby.
Did Selma Blair write Mean Baby herself?
The book is published under her name alone, with no co-writer credited, and she narrates the audiobook herself.
Is Mean Baby worth reading if you have not seen her films?
The book does not assume you know her work. Most of it is about her family, her drinking and her illness rather than about individual films.
Is there a documentary about Selma Blair?
Yes. Introducing, Selma Blair (2021) follows her during treatment for multiple sclerosis.
Footnotes
- Mean Baby — Penguin Random House
- Selma Blair on Mean Baby — NPR, 2022
- Selma Blair on alcoholism in Mean Baby — ET Online
- Selma Blair — Wikipedia
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“I hope someone would read it, maybe like you did, and say, oh, I get it.”
— Selma Blair on Mean Baby, interview with Rachel Martin, NPR, May 2022
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