The Bald Mermaid: A Memoir

I purchased this book because I wanted to know about Sheila Bridges' aesthetic development, about the experiences, personal and professional, that gave her such a bold, yet classic, sense of design. In particular, I wanted to know what accounted for her distinctive and perhaps unique use of strong, saturated wall colors throughout a house or apartment. Living in the Deep South, where the climate makes light-colored walls a natural choice, I was stunned when I first saw photographs of Bridge's work. Her homes are exuberant feasts of color. Their walls alone are art. Within them, Bridges arranges classic furniture designs with great simplicity and concern for function. The first time I saw photographs of her probably famous blue living room, I wanted to live there, to wrap myself in its sumptuous color. Ever since, I've wondered how one would develop such an aesthetic. The question haunts me still.If that is your interest, if you want to discover the designer in the design, you won't find the answer here. For a person known primarily for her work in interior design, Bridges offers surprisingly little about the formation of her aesthetic or about the development of that aesthetic in her interior design work. Her years at Parsons School of Design are omitted altogether, and the photographs of rooms are generally gratuitous, unrelated to the text.On the other hand, she writes endlessly about her sexual affairs, about where she eats breakfast, about zipping from her office all over NYC by cab, about the technical transactions of her profession, even about the route she took when she drove from New York to Philadelphia for Christmas. Such things might have some interest for readers if the author were a movie star or universally known recluse, but here they seem pretentious and are just plain boring.As a memoir, the book lacks focus. It does not show the development of a unique person. Thus, transitions between chapters are often non-existant. The reader just bounces from one thing to another, scarcely related thing. To make things even harder for the reader, some chapters are printed on colored pages in unreadable color print. For instance, I finally had to give up on the chapter called "The Mermaid School," printed in white type on brilliant orange pages. The firm hand of a good editor and book designer is badly needed.It is not until mid-way that the book acquires unity of purpose and a sense of the writer's development as a person. From the point that Bridges develops Alopecia areata, an auto-immune condition in which a person loses most or all of her body hair, her narrative takes on purpose and meaning. Confronted with the loss of her hair, Bridges must deal with her identity and in doing that, she becomes a stronger and more likable person and her story achieves unity and verve. The immature complaints about family and childhood slights fade as she confronts the loss of what had from her birth been a badge of her uniqueness---her golden mop of hair. This should have been the opening of the book, as the title itself reveals. This part is why the reader should buy the book.The title comes from a poem "The Mermaid" written by Alfred Lord Tennyson in 1830 and suggests the bones of Sheila Bridges' story:"I would be a mermaid fair;I would sing to myself the whole of the day;With a comb of pearl, I would comb my hair;And still as I comb'd I would sing and say,Who is it loves me?Who loves not me?"As most who have survived the first forty years of their lives know, the love that matters most, the one that brings true independence, is a person's love and appreciation of her evolved self. And this gift most often comes in consequence of travail or loss. Stripped of the external trappings one has mistaken for oneself, one either finds her worthy core and matures or one withers. Bridges matures. She moves to upstate New York, where she buys an old farm property, acquires horses and goats, and becomes her own gardener.I found one instance of her mature self-confidence especially delightful. A beautiful, well-educated, and professionally successful woman, Bridges had nonetheless been haunted by self-doubt in her relationships with others. She walked away from confrontations, let friends use her, tolerated things no one should have tolerated. Her psychiatrist said she was "risk aversive." For instance, a good friend and roommate had moved out a month into the year's lease to follow some man to the West Coast and stiffed Bridges for a year's rent. After a few tries to collect, Bridges let the matter go, even though it created a serious financial problem for her. After her move to the country, she developed a relationship with a man who was a carpenter and all-around fix-it type. His contrast to the helpless men she had known in the city had appealed to her in her early days upstate. In time they parted ways, but he kept calling her, talking of this and that, in time telling her of a new romance with a "beak-nosed woman" half his age, complaining about her frivolousness.When Bridges wanted to renovate a small building on her property into a guest cottage, she suggested a trade: her friend had almost no furniture in his house, and she had a storage house full of good, expensive furniture; perhaps they could trade his carpentry for her design services and furniture. He began construction work, and she furnished his house. He invited her to a small party at his place, insisting she would be comfortable, that his current girlfriend would be fine with her presence. She let him persuade her. Several days later, before daybreak she looked out her window to see him pulling all his equipment out. He was quitting, he said. The new woman didn't like his working for Bridges. She protested they had a firm bargain and she needed the house done by the tourist season so she could rent it. He said he was sorry---and left. From a mutual friend, she learned that the party he'd insisted she attend was to announce the engagement to the woman whom he had described as "insipid" and "juvenile." Bridges called her usual moving company, and when her faithless friend had left for work the next day, she and the workers went to the house and retrieved all the furniture, leaving the few sticks that he had to begin with and two pieces Bridges had calculated paid off the guy's carpentry. Of course, he called her screaming, but to no avail. She had learned a lot of things in consequence of her hair loss, and not letting people abuse her trust was one of them!The last part of the book is worth the reduced price the book now sells for. Skim the first half if you want to, but you'll be less irritated if you just go straight to the real book.Meanwhile, I hope the writer will undertake a memoir that will trace the development of her remarkable signature style. That is a subject deserving a book.

The first half of Shelia Bridges' memoir is a bit tedious. Do we really need to know the route that she drove home for the Xmas Holidays in 1993? Or the name, occupation and toothpaste used by each of her boyfriends from high school, college and post grad? I made up that last part but you get my drift. I wanted to know where she got her great sense of style and how she made the leap from Parson's graduate to decorator to the stars. The second half on the other hand, when she tells of her hair loss is tremendous! As if written by another person. And that may be the point because she probably did change on the outside as well as inside. She told and showed us how she is a strong, talented and very proud Black woman. I am glad to have read the book and admire her work and the strength and courage that she displayed is dealing with her hair loss.

Wow! One of the best books I've ever read and most beautiful books on my bookshelf. Sheila's writing is so vivid and clear and her journey so poignant and touching, I feel as if I know and understand Sheila better than my own sisters. Real, visceral and incredibly funny, I couldn't put the book down. So many of the coming of age experiences Sheila describes remind me of so many experiences and teaching my parents also tried to instill in me while growing up in the 60's and 70's. A must read for African American boomers - particularly those of us who grew up middle class-- and anyone who want to understand us. I can't wait to read Sheila's next book and see the movie "The Bald Mermaid"! Bravo, incredibly well done Sheila Bridges

This book is well-written. It gives a sense of a real woman and how she's handling a devastating condition. More important, we get to know Sheila and her family. The photos show a family that we can relate to, understand and feel empathy for. My sense is that Sheila is a multi-talented, warm, likeable and creative person.

Sheila Bridges' memoir, THE BALD MERMAID, is as daring, courageous and inspiring as her interior designs. I could not put this book down. You don't have to be a woman, African-American, or even particularly interested in interior design to become enthralled by Ms. Bridges' story and its powerful message: Follow your dreams by creating an outward life that is a true reflection of your inner self.

I wasn't sure about ordering the book, although I liked Sheila's show when it was on TV (the now gone Fine Living channel), and I was curious. I am glad I bought the book, it is really good and I learned a lot about life and people. Sheila is an incredibly strong and couragous woman, I don't think there are many like her.

funny, if you can get pass all of the name dropping book was a pleasure to read..

It was an eye opener, expectations of life can throw uncertain curves and you still live, you are not important as you think you are

A good read.