BIBFRAME Work

Title

Bright lights, prairie dust

Type

  • Monograph
  • Text

Contribution

Subject

Genre Form

Language

Illustrative Content

Classification

Content

Supplementary content

Summary

"Karen Grassle, the beloved actress who played Ma on Little House on the Prairie, grew up at the edge of the Pacific Ocean in a family where love was plentiful but alcohol wreaked havoc. In this candid memoir, Grassle reveals her journey to succeed as an actress even as she struggles to overcome depression, combat her own dependence on alcohol, and find true love. With humor and hard-won wisdom, Grassle takes readers on an inspiring journey through the political turmoil on '60s campuses, on to studies with some of the most celebrated artists at the famed London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and ultimately behind the curtains of Broadway stages and storied Hollywood sets. In these pages, readers meet actors and directors who have captivated us on screen and stage as they fall in love, betray and befriend, and don costumes only to reveal themselves. We know Karen Grassle best as the proud prairie woman Caroline Ingalls, with her quiet strength and devotion to family, but this memoir introduces readers to the complex, funny, rebellious, and soulful woman who, in addition to being the force behind those many strong women she played, fought passionately--as a writer, producer, and activist--on behalf of equal rights for women. Raw, emotional, and tender, Bright Lights celebrates and honors womanhood, in all its complexity."--Amazon.

Table of Contents

Prologue -- Growing up absurd. Miracle baby -- Saved! -- Baptism and blood -- Duet -- Passion. Undertow -- Surfacing -- Art and death -- Waking up in Berkeley -- The way. Practice -- An actor's life for me -- Eating the Big Apple -- Breaking the waves. Hooray for Hollywood -- Having it all -- "We're home" -- Too good to be true -- Towers and walls -- Never say die -- Everything flowers. Hitting bottom -- Sea change -- Woman's work -- Buried desire -- New acts -- Afterword.

Authorized Access Point

Grassle, Karen, 1942-. Bright lights, prairie dust

Admin Metadata

  • Date: 2026-09-11T20:18:39.838414+00:00
  • Agent: cbc
  • Status: c
  • Derived from: 22082327

Admin Metadata

  • Date: 2026-09-11
  • Cataloger id: Unknown
  • Description level: http://id.loc.gov/ontologies/bibframe-2-6-0/
  • Description language: eng
  • Description authentication: pcc

Alternative Formats

Blue Core Actions

  • Load to Marva Marva loads Instances, not Works. Open one of this Work's Instances and load that into Marva instead.
  • Load to Sinopia
  • Export to Catalog Only Instances can be exported. Open one of this Work's Instances and export that instead.