- Christina Applegate details MS diagnosis in new memoir.
- Book excerpt published by The Guardian before March 3 release.
- Applegate diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021.
- Memoir published by Penguin Random House March 3.
In one of her passages in You With the Sad Eyes published in the Guardian, the actress writes with crude candour on the pain, weight, body image and in speaking the truth, she has found freedom.
In a piece The Guardian magazine has published early of the publication of her book to mark-to-market its publication on March 3, Christina Applegate describes herself as an honesty missile, the targets of which are now securely locked.
Applegate is refreshingly open in You With the Sad Eyes: A Memoir, narrating from a cold and clear perspective four years of her life since she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021 and how this change in perspective has upset her.
The actress, 54 and hospitalized over 30 times since being diagnosed with the disease, says the experience has taken away the remaining interest in social performance. All this has made me incapable of being polite anymore, she writes. Boringsome and consumes too much energy.
On Women, Truth and Illness: The main argument of Politeness Is Almost a Lie, the Memoir
Applegate in the extract explains the effect MS has had on not only her body, but her perception of truth. She comprehends that when the physical life is reduced to the size of a bed, priorities become dark with an abruptness. It is beautiful to be kind and loving and nurturing, but to be polite is nearly to lie, she writes.
It is good to be well-mannered, but there is something about that sweet politeness that women are expected to exercise that smells of acting like we are.
She has equally been forthright regarding the physical toll. She had put on 40 pounds in the earlier onset of the MS and, having to use a cane to support her walking, she then lost over 50 pounds due to the development of a severe complication in her stomach, which she says is at the same time a relief as well as a horror.
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I still have that voice in my head telling me that she is really skinny. You got the legs you desired, you see. Good for you.' And this is the sickness, you see. "But she's not going to win."
The Case of Getting Sadie to School: How Applegate Measures a Well-Lived Day
Although living with the great ongoing pain, last month Applegate has informed the People magazine that she still has the 15-year-old daughter named Sadie with whom she shares her life with the husband of 13 years, Martyn LeNoble, and that she still manages to take Sadie to school daily.
"I say to myself, 'Just get her there safe and get home so that you can get back into bed. And that's what I do,'" she said. "My life does not have a bow tied around it. The life of people, f--king pity me, sometimes it is miserable. So I am as many what I can think as honest and raw."
Next MS Platform Launched; Memoir Out March 3
The memoir comes as a companion to another development that Applegate has recently introduced called Next in MS, which is meant to provide individuals with the condition a specific space to tell their stories and ask tough questions without any kind of screening.
The welcome message of the site states that we are starting a new conversation, one where we will be able to talk, ask strong questions, are willing to ask hard questions, seek hard answers, and prioritize complicated ways forward.
The first time that Applegate received a diagnosis was during the shooting of the final season of her Netflix series, Dead to Me. She said of the New York Times: It is the first time that anyone will see me the way I am. I'm never going to accept this. I'm pissed." A Memoir You With the Sad Eyes is released by Penguin Random House on March 3.
