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Book Review of Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated

Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated
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Helpful Score: 9


This is the second of the Little House actress' memoirs that I have read. The first, Melissa Gilbert's Prairie Tale, was not as good as I hoped it would be.

This one, written by Alison Arngrim, who played the evil Nellie Oleson, hit just the right notes for me. The book details her early life and her relationship with her entertainment-world parents. (Little known fact: Her mother was the voice of many famous characters). Alison endured an abusive relationship with her brother and found family on the Little House set.

This memoir is more dishy than Melissa's and does contain more insights into the time that Alison spent on the Little House set. There is information about the other child actresses and actors, the adults on set (including Michael Landon and Katherine MacGregor), and the actor who played Nellie's husband, Steve Tracy (who later died of AIDS).

What I liked about this book was that you really got a sense that playing Nellie changed Alison and made her a stronger person. She seems to have benefitted from being the mean girl on TV. She really is a remarkable person, giving back to the community through working to change laws that did not protect children adequately, giving to AIDS related causes, and volunteering.

I complained about the language in Melissa's memoir, not because it was bad language, but because it felt forced and unnatural to me. In Alison's book, while there is some blue language, it fits the tone of the book and her personality.

This book was enjoyable, touching, and enlightening. Long live Nellie Oleson!