The sad state of Rosie O'Donnell

There's a lot of raw emotion in Rosie O'Donnell's new autobiography, "Celebrity Detox: the Fame Game." (The title refers to the intoxicating feeling of being famous; the detox is the four years between Rosie's own show and her year on "The View.")

As if we didn't know it already, Rosie seems to be a person for whom nothing goes unsaid. Perhaps if she had more of a brake between her brain and her mouth, this would be a cheerier, more superficial book. But then, she certainly wouldn't be Rosie.

My overall feeling after finishing these sometimes cringe-worthy 209 pages is one of sadness for Rosie, who hasn't been able to regain her equilibrium since her mother's death when she was 10 years old. It's more than that, though: The loss of her mother seems to affect almost every relationship she has with a woman, even though Rosie is now in what she says is a strong relationship with Kelli, and she's a mother herself.

Rosie looks for mothering from, of all people, Barbara Walters, the ultimate high-powered, over-scheduled career woman, whose own daughter's feelings Rosie wonders about sympathetically.

It's potentially devastating enough to look for mothering from friends, but from the woman who was her boss? Poor Rosie. And poor Barbara, too. Rosie won't accept any kind of tough love -- to her, anything less than unconditional love and support feels like betrayal and abandonment.

Check out Rosie's blog for her thoughts on the book -- so far, she's not giving interviews. But if she does sit down with Diane Sawyer, I think I know what relationship Rosie will be re-enacting in her own mind.

Read the full review of "Celebrity Detox: The Fame Game" in today's Buffalo News.

-- Anne Neville