It Hit Me Like a Ton of Bricks

If the sins of the mother are visited upon the daughters, actress Catherine Lloyd Burns (ER, Malcolm in the Middle) has certainly made the best of them. Her breezy childhood in a wealthy Manhattan family was shattered by her father’s death at age 9 — and her mother’s response: She warned her daughter not to use the tragedy to manipulate others. Either admirably progressive or monstrously self-absorbed, Mom embarked on sexually liberating relationships and a successful academic career, while Burns bounced through boarding schools and boyfriends, developing bulimia and a cocaine addiction. Sound unbearably grim? Surprisingly, It Hit Me Like a Ton of Bricks isn’t; Burns’ vignettes are wry and touchingly authentic.