Love, Pamela

Model and actor Anderson chronicles her rise to fame in this pensive memoir. Growing up on Vancouver Island, Anderson loved spending time on the beach, though her childhood was also marked by abuse and a rape when she was an early teen. Even so, she writes, her upbringing was “the ultimate gift... I was raised in a way where nobody was telling me what to do or how to be, or how to think, or what to believe, and I’m eternally grateful for that.” Her life changed dramatically after she appeared on a Jumbotron at a football game, and before long she was on the cover of Playboy in 1989. Anderson speaks of her career with nostalgia: acting on TV series Baywatch opened the door to films, while Playboy continued to offer new opportunities, though, she writes, “My life took off without me.” Now, as a mother of two, Anderson considers being a mother her “priority and greatest source of pride.” Though she can contradict herself (modeling is “empty, shallow, and weird,” but posing for Playboy was “empowering”), she is frank about her inner turmoil, notably about longing for others to see through her carefully curated persona: “How could I expect anyone to love me enough to see through it all?” This poetic and free-spirited narrative reflects both Anderson’s naivete and her wild spirit. Agent: David Kuhn, Aevitas Creative Management. (Jan.)