I know several people who went vegan after reading Alicia Silverstone's cheerful vegan treatise/cookbook The Kind Diet, including the Merc's own Marjorie Skinner, albeit temporarily.

I suspect (hope?) her new parenting book will be a tougher sell. Silverstone is at the Cedar Hills Powell's tonight, reading from (deep breath) The Kind Mama: A Simple Guide to Supercharged Fertility, a Radiant Pregnancy, a Sweeter Birth, and a Healthier, More Beautiful Beginning.

Obligatory feeding-baby-like-a-bird video.

The Daily Beast breaks down some of the advice in Silverstone's new book: Let your kid poop in the grass! Stop using tampons! Go vegan! I wish celebrities would stop extrapolating universal truths from their own totally bizarre and highly privileged experiences. It would be funny if people didn't actually pay attention—this parenting book sounds like well-meaning, antivax-tinged nonsense, so the Portland reading will be pretty packed, I guess.