If you saw Candy Spelling's essay on Joan Crawford, which appeared yesterday on Babble.com, you probably immediately clicked in search of the answer to the question: "What's she say about her daughter's book?"

Candy Spelling, wife of late TV drama king Aaron Spelling, ostensibly wrote the piece about the damage done to Joan Crawford's reputation by her daughter's memoir -- and the subsequent movie adaptation -- Mommie Dearest. Spelling bemoans the fact that Instead of thinking "Oscar winner" when we hear Crawford's name, we now think, "No wire hangers ever!" But of course the subtext to all this is Spelling's own heartbreak over her daughter Tori ("Donna Martin graduates!") and her recent book, sTori Spelling, which delves into all the ritzy-gritty details of her childhood and life as a star of "Beverly Hills, 90210."

The elder Spelling only makes reference to the book in one telling paragraph that appears well into the piece. For your convenience, I have reprinted it here: "One of my protective friends said she wished I had a Charlotte Chandler when my daughter's book, sTori Telling, came out recently, but Tori's book was not a Mommie Dearest. Her childhood recollections vary from those of the rest of the family and the many friends who were around during those years. The fact that the media focused on her childhood complaints, not the many positive experiences of her life, made me sympathize even more with poor Joan. Parents learn early that mothers and fathers are convenient targets for criticism; but there's nothing quite like hearing a totally revised version of your daughter's childhood on a television show. At least Joan missed the heartbreak of hearing strangers and outsiders discussing her life."

So Mommy Spelling, who reportedly reconciled with daughter Tori only a year ago, seems to be frustrated with her little girl once again. Now, I have not read sTori Spelling and, frankly, I don't plan to. But based on common sense about families, my guess is that Candy Spelling probably made some mistakes as a parent, mistakes that profoundly impacted Tori S. I also would guess that mom and daughter remember these mistakes in very different ways. 

That's the problem with memoirs: At least one loved one winds up feeling slighted or misrepresented by what shows up on those pages. I'm not saying Tori is wrong about everything and Candy is right. I am saying the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. And when there appears to be long-standing ill will between the two  that both are still struggling to overcome, a memoir like this can't help much of anything, except perhaps Tori's bank account.

Lastly, I am guessing that the people who care most about Tori's memoir are: Tori and Candy Spelling. Most Americans, I suspect, would be just fine living their lives without hearing about every little thing that happened in the Spelling home. Being a mother now myself, I appreciate the hurt Candy Spelling must feel in a way I certainly could not have in pre-mommy mode. But she can take comfort in this: sTori Telling ain't Mommie Dearest. Faye Dunaway isn't going to play her in a campy '80s movie. And if they haven't already, most people will forget that Tori ever wrote that book in the first place.

P.S. "Donna Martin graduates!"

Photo: Babble.com