The Way I See It: A Look Back at My Life on Little House [Hardcover]

Melissa Anderson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 4, 2010

When other girls her age were experiencing their first crushes, Melissa Sue Anderson was receiving handwritten marriage proposals from fans as young, and younger, than she was. When other girls were dreaming of their first kiss, Melissa was struggling through hers in front of a camera. From age eleven in 1974 until she left the show in 1981, Melissa Anderson literally grew up before the viewers of Little House on the Prairie.

Melissa, as Mary, is remembered by many as “the blind sister”—and she was the only actor in the series to be nominated for an Emmy. In The Way I See It, she takes readers onto the set and inside the world of the iconic series created by Michael Landon, who, Melissa discovered, was not perfect, as much as he tried to be. In this memoir she also shares her memories of working with guest stars like Todd Bridges, Mariette Hartley, Sean Penn, Patricia Neal, and Johnny Cash.

In addition to stories of life on the set, Melissa offers revealing looks at her relationships off-set with her costars, including the other Melissa (Melissa Gilbert) and Alison Arngrim, who portrayed Nellie Oleson on the show. And she relates stories of her guest appearances on iconic programs such as The Love Boat and The Brady Bunch.

Filled with personal, revealing anecdotes and memorabilia from the Little House years, this book is also a portrait of a child star who became a successful adult actress and a successful adult. These are stories from “the other Ingalls sister” that have never been told.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Melissa Anderson is an Emmy–Award winning actress known to millions for playing Mary Ingalls on the NBC television series Little House on the Prairie, which aired from 1974 to 1983. She played First Lady Megan Hollister in the 2006 miniseries 10.5: Apocalypse. Born and raised in California, she lives with her husband, television producer and screenwriter Michael Sloan, and their two children.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

AN EXCERPT
I spotted Mike across the stage and headed in his direction. My heart was racing, and my stomach was tied up in a huge knot.
“Um . . . Uh . . . Hey, Mike?”
He turned, saw me, and smiled. “Hey, darlin’, how ya doing?”
“Uh, well, good . . . I guess.” I was now having trouble looking him in the eye.
“Something on your mind, Missy?”
And then, out it came. “Is it true? Are you really going to make me go blind next season?” I waited for what seemed forever for my answer.
“Yes, Missy, you will be going blind next season.”
My heart sank. I felt sick. The tears sprung up and out before I even had time to digest this news. I couldn’t hold them back. I madly tried to think of something, anything else, so I would stop crying and not humiliate myself any further.
Just about the time I almost really lost it, Mike said, “Don’t worry, Missy. It’s going to be great. You’ll see.” He gave me a big hug.
“R-r-really?” I sobbed. “You’re not going to write me out?”
“Of course not,” he said. . . .“You have a great future ahead.”
I knew he wasn’t just saying it to make me feel better; he wasn’t that kind of guy. He went on to explain what would happen to Mary, and the show, and how he knew this would be a great opportunity for me. I trusted Mike and chose to accept the wonderful feeling of relief that had come over me.

 

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Globe Pequot; First edition (May 4, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762759704
• ISBN-13: 978-0762759705
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (132 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #74,300 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

142 of 146 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Now I've read the 'other Melissa's' book......, April 28, 2010

By 

Movie Maven - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Way I See It: A Look Back at My Life on Little House (Hardcover)

I've always been a fan of the show "Little House On The Prairie" and grew up watching the show. A few months back, I read Melissa Gilbert's book "Prairie Tale." In Ms. Gilbert's book, she briefly speaks about Melissa Sue Anderson, who played her older sister Mary on "Little House." But the few things Ms. Gilbert did say about Ms. Anderson, while not critical, were also not very fair and I hoped that Ms. Anderson would write her own book to provide her point of view about the show, Michael Landon, and Melissa Gilbert. I must say that I was a bit disappointed in Ms. Anderson's book as it seemed to be more of a re-telling of each "Little House" episode that she had more involvement with than any new or different revelations about herself or the show. And, in many of the chapters of her book, Ms. Anderson has exerpts from "Little House" scripts or has part of the chapter itself written in this script format. Ms. Anderson has, since her 1990 marriage to Michael Sloan, opted to distance herself from show business in order to devote herself full time to raising their two children. So, she's quite understandably protective of her privacy and the privacy of her family. That protection of privacy is evident as she wrote her book because Ms. Anderson does not go into how, as a child, she became interested in acting, about meeting her husband, there's not even much about her interaction with other "Little House" cast members including Michael Landon. While I'm not a fan of 'tell-all books', this one tells little or nothing. Also, while I very much like Ms. Anderson, while I was reading her book, I was scratching my head about WHY she decided to write this book in the first place.

76 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars An Episode Guide...Not A Memoir, June 6, 2010

By 

R. Dubrow (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Way I See It: A Look Back at My Life on Little House (Hardcover)

There are a few interesting tidbits here in Anderson's book but for the most part this 200 plus page tome devotes, on average, 80% of each chapter to long plot descriptions of various Little House episodes. This info can all be found online, for free. A book to glance through... nothing more.

62 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Unique View of an Iconic TV Series, April 25, 2010

By 

Gail K. Powers "Abra" (Harbor Country, Mi,N. Naples, FL, Chicago area) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Way I See It: A Look Back at My Life on Little House (Hardcover)

Probably less memoir and more recollection of the author's take on being a cast member on Little House On The Prarie, Mellissa Sue Anderson relives filming the popular tv series and focuses on some of the most memorable episodes she participated in. More snippets of day to day life on a film set where days were often long and location shooting was dedicated to a six day week, she talks fondly of the people she met along the way and gives her reader the impression that, for the most part, life on the set was fairly upbeat and pleasant and really a family affair during the years the series filmed.
While very little negative comments were expressed, the reader will learn that at times Michael Landon was not quite as easy going and benign as he publicly seemed. He periodically had a cruel streak toward crew members and particularly delighted in mimicing a man who had a problem with stuttering. Anderson also expressed disappointment when she learned that Landon was divorcing his long-time wife Lynn and carrying on an affair with a former stand-in who had be elevated to a make-up artist with the reasoning that the promotion somehow made Landon's inamorata and future wife more acceptable to the pubic. Ma Ingalls, played by classically trained stage actress Karen Grassle, appears to have been one of the few actors on the set who bristled at the mundane lines she was expected to deliver as the series progressed.
Eventually, as Anderson's participation in the weekly series dwindled, she opted out of weekly appearances and made periodic guest spots in the last year or so of the series.
After the series ended, Anderson continued to work in the acting profession and even took to the stage. However, when she married she chose to devote herself to her husband and two children and presumably has not worked as an actress.
On a personal level, Anderson discussed dating Frank Sinatra Jr. for awhile. She was very complimentary toward Jr. and the rest of his family including Frank.
While this book did not have a lot of juicy tidbits of a scandalous or racy nature, it was interesting. Anderson appears to be one child actor who managed to survive her theatrical childhood unscathed and has lived to tell about it in a chatty, informative way. This was an interesting book, but one definitely devoid of fireworks.