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    Martha Stewart never pointed a glue gun at my head, daughter says

    Martha and Alexis in 2005. (AP)

    Ever wonder what it would have been like to grow up in the home of a domestic diva like Martha Stewart?

    Stewart's daughter, Alexis, wrote a book about it. While "Whateverland" is not exactly a tell-all, Alexis is pretty candid about her upbringing--which is surprising, considering how careful the Stewart family is about cultivating its image and associated brand.

    "I grew up with a glue gun pointed to my head," Alexis writes in an excerpt provided to the news media by the book's publisher. "If I didn't do something perfectly I had to do it again."

    Alexis told the "Today" show on Monday that the glue gun was merely a metaphor. "There were no glue guns," she said. "I wish there had been--it would have been more fun. [Martha] worked hard and was a perfectionist and I don't have a problem with that."

    Martha made her wrap her own Christmas presents, Alexis says in the book, which was co-authored by Jennifer Koppelman Hutt and published last week.

    "My mother used to have me wrap my own presents on Christmas, hand me things and say, 'Now wrap these but don't look inside,'" Alexis wrote. "But I didn't because I knew it was never worth looking."

    In another excerpt, Alexis says that Martha largely shunned handing out Halloween treats for children.

    "We turned off all of the lights, pretended we weren't home and my mother never had anything but apples and pennies to annoy the children with," Alexis writes.

    Alexis, who is 46, says in the book that "there was never anything to eat at my house. There were ingredients but no prepared food of any kind."

    Alexis also writes that her mother always left the bathroom door open when she urinated.

    Martha, for her part, is taking the book and its claims of an oddly cold household in stride.

    "It is hilarious and enlightening and full of funny stories," the 70-year-old home mogul said earlier this month on her eponymous TV show. "I encourage to you buy it, read it and make it a best seller."

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    Want more of our best media stories? Visit The Cutline or connect with us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

     
    • KS  •  7 mths ago
      Mommy said it all. Buy the book and make it a best seller. There are millions to be made here; and do you know what? American's are stupid enough to do just that!
      • Yo Mama 7 mths ago
        Ain't that the truth!
      • notarunaroundsue 7 mths ago
        I can get it at the library for free!
      • Holly 7 mths ago
        What an annoying Mother (Martha) and what an annoying daughter (Alexis)!!! Oh yeah, we all want to read lies about what your mother did not really do and then you say its about your life, not your moms! and the blase' attitude while describing this piece of crap book is also sooooo annoying. Trash book of phoney #$%$ people who love money!
    • Reandrea  •  Richardson, United States  •  7 mths ago
      I saw Alexis on the Today show this am, and was encouraged by her interview not to read it. In fact, you couldn't pay me to read the book.
      • maggie may 7 mths ago
        I watched also. I wonder if the book was written when they were #$%$ off at thier families. Now the book is out and its like, crap, too late now so lets try to polish it over by poking fun at it. Both of them were very weird ladies. . .
    • riprap  •  7 mths ago
      I pee outside and saved over 200 gallons of water last year.
      • Diane 7 mths ago
        HAHAHA! Good one!
      • Leslie 7 mths ago
        Too-shay!
      • Hootie Hoo 7 mths ago
        One of the most liberating acts that make you feel alive.....especially in the winter !
    • senior  •  7 mths ago
      I watched Alexis on the Today Show..........she is a very rude, snarly, spoiled woman. I felt sorry for her once friend and co-authur Jennifer. Jennifer was kind, but Alexis was horrible!
      • Canuck 7 mths ago
        I'm not surprised - look who she had as a role model!
    • Joe S  •  7 mths ago
      If she urinates in public restrooms with the door open - then it's a story. Otherwise, I don't want to know.
      • chico 7 mths ago
        yeh, not sure if i want to hear about that either..lol! either way its boring news
      • milore 7 mths ago
        even then!
      • Holly 7 mths ago
        Alexis writes a book about negative things in her life and about her mother and then decides that this week she is not mad at her mother, so she and her mother devise a plan to say the book is suppose to be hilarious, just a joke, nothing true!!! WHAT A LOAD OF HORSE CRAP!!! AND WHAT A WASTE OF TIME! Another way to fleece the people!
    • Mantis Vyden  •  7 mths ago
      What the heck did I just read...
    • MJ66  •  Boca Raton, United States  •  7 mths ago
      This woman is nothing more than a stuffy bitter twit who has nothing interesting to say. You're a bitter woman Alexis. Hope you find another career because you're book sounds as uninteresting as you are.
    • Miss*Ireland  •  Troy, United States  •  7 mths ago
      I pee in a box and make my owner clean it up!
    • Boondogle  •  Denver, United States  •  7 mths ago
      I pee with the door open too. So what, it's my house.
    • A Yahoo! User  •  Morehead, United States  •  7 mths ago
      Blah, blah, blah. If life with mom was so bad, why ride on her skirt tails? It's really hard to empathize with someone who bites the hand that has fed them. Here's an idea: Give your money, position, power to the less fortunate in the world. Whoever said life was perfect? So your mom has some issues. Why launder them in public unless you're trying to profit in some way? Oh, yeah, that's right, you are trying to make a profit at your mother's expense. Get a life, Alexis.
    • Mary B  •  Clyde, United States  •  7 mths ago
      I saw the interview. I thought Alexis was very arrogant. Her former friend and co-author, Jennifer Koppelman came across as more approachable and kind. Alexis had a flippant remark for every question Savanah Guthrie asked her. I would not buy this book. Not interested in it the slightest.
    • reg  •  7 mths ago
      you gotta love how these rich kids complain about their parents.you know they will be the first in line when the will is being read.
    • Mandy  •  7 mths ago
      I don't think I could possibly be LESS interested in this book. It sounds like complete garbage to me!
    • Jarp  •  Santa Clara, United States  •  7 mths ago
      What a joke for news.
    • Honest Alice  •  7 mths ago
      There are three sides to every story, Martha's, her bitchy daughter's and the truth. Personally none are worth knowing about. Her daughter sounds like a stuck up b*tch just like her mother. Slap the snot out of them both I say.
    • ThePoet  •  7 mths ago
      She sounds like a spoiled little brat..... Her life was peaches and cream comparaed to a lot of childrens lives. Most have been beaten, starved or had to endure foster care. She was never without food, she had clothes I think she just wanted to complain about something. This girl should count her blessings she had everything she needed. Maybe instead of belly aching she should look at how good she had it. Im not saying Martha is perfect but comparaed to a lot of parents out there shes good.
    • Priscilla  •  Oklahoma City, United States  •  7 mths ago
      Martha Stewart and Joan Crawford are mild compared to my mother!! I could write a book, but who wants to know about a nobody's abusive treatment as a child. I am a senior citizen now and have my own children to love, hug and enjoy.
    • unknown  •  7 mths ago
      No surprise here, every kid complains about how their parents brought them up, no parent is perfect. Just wait Alexis someday your children will be talking trash about you than you will understand how you made your mother feel, somethings are just meant to stay private
    • Laura  •  7 mths ago
      all i ever hear about this person is how she makes money off dishing on the image of her mother. sad.
    • Cavalry Scout  •  7 mths ago
      Life must be just terrible for the children of billionares these days. Getting everything you could possibly want in the world, and then being troubled with the constant decision over what you will wear. I'm sure her closet is just too full. Her sports car is just too fast, and she keeps failing over the boxes of spending money her mother gives her. Isn't life an absolute #$%$
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