The exchanges convey a rich mixture of love, exasperation, nostalgia and resentment that will be familiar to anyone who has ever been a mother or a daughter. At the same time, they offer rare glimpses behind the curtain of two great Hollywood careers, from Diane’s landmark work performance in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” to their collaboration on “Rambling Rose,” to Laura’s recent Oscar for “Marriage Story” and acclaim for “Big Little Lies.” The book opens with a foreword by Reese Witherspoon that reminds us that Dern played her mother in the movie “Wild,” though since the actresses are only nine years apart in age, they think of themselves more as sisters. (So much so, says Reese, that if there were a way to make it legal, they would.)

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A few years ago, Diane Ladd was diagnosed with a severe lung condition and given six months to live. The only positive suggestion the doctor offered was a routine of walking. Given her mother’s personality, Dern adjusted the directive: “I had to eliminate the prescriptive component and turn it into a creative challenge for my storyteller mom.” So she suggested that, during the walks, she’d record Diane’s stories for posterity.

In the months that followed, their talks went much deeper than either woman expected. There are stories that they remember differently, fights that were never resolved, and generational differences in the way they view things. An example gives the flavor:

Laura: Look, Mom, you keep defending working motherhood. I’m not saying it’s wrong. Obviously, I’m doing it. Most women have to do it. I’m just saying that it’s not always easy. I was talking about my kids’ principal giving me a hard time about my parenting, and you immediately jumped in to tell me that I had an awesome childhood and learned so much from all the adventures you gave me.

Diane: I’m not defending it! I’m stating a fact! You’ve learned a lot from the life you’ve had. You’ve evolved.

Laura: But once again I’m trying to be honest with you about some real pain, and you’re coming back at me with, “Sounds like you don’t appreciate the amazing life you had!”

Imagine how different this would be if presented in a traditional memoir.

It also gives Diane many opportunities to reveal that she thinks she knows Laura better than Laura knows herself. For example, Laura asks her mom what her favorite dessert is. “Oh, we have the same favorite there!” Diane says. “Banana pudding.”

“No,” replies Laura, “my favorite is cobbler.”

Though the pudding recipe is included, one doesn’t get the impression that cooking has been a big part of these women’s lives. Take the “Southern Japanese Casserole,” in which Diane tops tofu, soy sauce and vegetables with low-fat mozzarella. She insists it’s Laura’s favorite dinner, but Laura has to admit she prefers macaroni and cheese.

Laura: About my own favorite thing? Yes, believe it or not, I am.

Despite its shortcomings as a cookbook, “Honey, Baby, Mine” succeeds brilliantly as a document of two Hollywood lives. In addition to a lovely collection of black-and-white snapshots, portraits and stills taken on and off the set, the numerous passages about the acting process are fascinating; in one memorable section Laura pinpoints the moment she fell in love with acting, at age 7. “Marty” (director Martin Scorsese) let her peek through a crack into the set where Diane was shooting the bathroom scene of “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” with Ellen Burstyn, and eavesdrop as he spoke to the actresses about getting the details right — from a character’s hairstyle to the way she would react to anger.

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Even at such a young age, says Laura, she understood that her mother and Burstyn were “these phenomenal actors playing off each other” — and it set the course for her life.

Whether it was the walks that did it or not, four years later, Ladd’s health is much improved. She was alive and well to record the audio, re-creating her side of the dialogue in her breathy Mississippi drawl, while Laura wheedles, bosses, questions, pleads and does everything but drag her down the street — and we get to eavesdrop as if tiptoeing just a step or two behind.

Marion Winik, host of the NPR podcast “The Weekly Reader,” is the author of numerous books, including “First Comes Love” and “The Big Book of the Dead.”

A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding)

By Laura Dern and Diane Ladd. Foreword by Reese Witherspoon

Grand Central. 256 pp. $30