Customer Reviews

Untied: A Memoir of Family, Fame, and Floundering

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Meredith Baxter details her progression from youth to adulthood with the benefit of hindsight. She is quick to admit her errors, especially when making the same mistakes, which she admits was a pattern she found difficult to break. It will surprise no one that she attributes much of her later problems to an emotionally starved childhood; this is almost standard in many celebrity bios. More interesting was the revelation that she stumbled into acting, since she was a divorced mother of two in her early twenties; acting was a means of paying the bills rather than a driving passion. Perhaps because of this, her film career is less detailed than her focus on the failed relationships in her life. While this is certainly crucial information, it is perhaps not all that her readers would want to learn. Stars like Robert Redford and Michael Gross receive only a few paragraphs here and there, while Baxter regales her readers with the shortcomings of ex-husbands David Birney and Michael Blodgett in excruciating detail. For readers interested in the fine points of her three failed marriages, this proves an informative read. There is also an edifying sub-story as Baxter details her struggle and eventual triumph over alcohol addiction. She is an intelligent and introspective author but there is much navel gazing. However, Baxter's perception about others tells us a lot about who she is and there is much of that to be found. Her eventual 'coming out' reads more like the story of a woman disenchanted with men rather than a young girl who always leaned 'that way' and finally finds herself as a mature woman. Die-hard Meredith fans will enjoy this book but it is not a must read, by any means.

I found this book to be good. It is a story of her life in and after Family ties. I found the parts of her youth lacked some depth.