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katlizlove's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. The author is kind and thoughtful and full of honesty. What a wonderful, intentional narrative.
gck's review against another edition
4.0
I've seen and enjoyed several of Sarah Ruhl's plays, so I was excited to read her new memoir and learn more about her as a writer and a person. Smile is about Ruhl's birth of twins and subsequent onset of Bell's palsy, a condition where the face is partially paralyzed.
The first part of the book was the most interesting to me, about the pregnancy, births, the beginning of the Bell's palsy, and the challenges of working as a playwright through all of these things. Ruhl writes with eloquence, insight, and humor. (One favorite story was about people misunderstanding her pronunciation of her daughter's name) She would often jump back in time to share stories of her past that helped frame her present situation, and there are a lot of academic references as well.
Somewhere in the middle, I stopped feeling quite as engaged with the story. All of the real life drama in the beginning provided a lot of interesting content, but after that, her life settled into a more steady rhythm. There are lots of little stories that were fine to read through but didn't necessarily draw me forward to the next, and in between, there was a lot of musings about faces, spirituality, illness, and more. Most of the subjects are mentioned lightly and didn't provide me with any takeaways, with the exception of the topic of faces. I'm still thinking about how it must feel like to have a face that can't express the emotion you feel, the importance we as a society place on horizontal symmetry, and all the things that a smile signifies.
I think Ruhl anticipated that the end of her memoir, people would be wanting some sort of big, satisfying conclusion (which admittedly is what I was feeling), and wrote:
"My years of writing plays tells me that a story requires an apotheosis, a sudden transformation. But my story has been so slow, so incremental, the nature of the chronic, which resists plot and epiphany... What kind of story is that?"
A story worth reading, I think.
Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.
The first part of the book was the most interesting to me, about the pregnancy, births, the beginning of the Bell's palsy, and the challenges of working as a playwright through all of these things. Ruhl writes with eloquence, insight, and humor. (One favorite story was about people misunderstanding her pronunciation of her daughter's name) She would often jump back in time to share stories of her past that helped frame her present situation, and there are a lot of academic references as well.
Somewhere in the middle, I stopped feeling quite as engaged with the story. All of the real life drama in the beginning provided a lot of interesting content, but after that, her life settled into a more steady rhythm. There are lots of little stories that were fine to read through but didn't necessarily draw me forward to the next, and in between, there was a lot of musings about faces, spirituality, illness, and more. Most of the subjects are mentioned lightly and didn't provide me with any takeaways, with the exception of the topic of faces. I'm still thinking about how it must feel like to have a face that can't express the emotion you feel, the importance we as a society place on horizontal symmetry, and all the things that a smile signifies.
I think Ruhl anticipated that the end of her memoir, people would be wanting some sort of big, satisfying conclusion (which admittedly is what I was feeling), and wrote:
"My years of writing plays tells me that a story requires an apotheosis, a sudden transformation. But my story has been so slow, so incremental, the nature of the chronic, which resists plot and epiphany... What kind of story is that?"
A story worth reading, I think.
Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.
eile_mc's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
rmarcin's review against another edition
4.0
After Sarah Ruhl delivers her twins, a nurse notices that her eyelid is drooping. She has Bell's Palsy. This leaves her with a crooked smile. She details how some of the medical professionals misdiagnose her, and others give her hope. After a long ten years, she has stopped searching for a cure, but a friend helps her find someone who actually does assist her in getting her nerves to react.
This is a moving story of someone whose life changed, but she learns that your smile doesn't necessarily portray what is in your heart.
Uplifting memoir.
This is a moving story of someone whose life changed, but she learns that your smile doesn't necessarily portray what is in your heart.
Uplifting memoir.
kaybee23's review against another edition
3.0
Audiobook version was used. I completed this as a buddy-read with my friend who has Bell's. I feel like I've gained more insight into her experience and an understanding of why she was so fixated on her smile. As the author writes, a smile can mean so much. This book feels like a memoir at points but touches on topics such as perspectives on beauty, women's experiences with the medical world, lack of research on pregnant women, misdiagnoses, working as a parent, and how to move forward. My primary critique is that this book could have been shorter.
smalltownbookmom's review against another edition
4.0
A short but incredibly moving and real story about playwright and mother Sarah Ruhl who experienced a high risk pregnancy with spontaneous twins and later suffered facial disfigurement related to postpartum Bell's palsy.
Ruhl's mental health journey is utterly relatable for any mother and the extra challenges she faced from her condition added another layer of struggle to the already difficult job of being a working mother.
In this memoir she details her feelings trying to juggle her career, children and still fight to recover from a condition doctors said would be permanent. Highly inspirational and an important lesson in learning to accept what life brings while still knowing that it's okay to not feel okay and that seeking help is not a weakness. Highly recommended and great on audio.
Ruhl's mental health journey is utterly relatable for any mother and the extra challenges she faced from her condition added another layer of struggle to the already difficult job of being a working mother.
In this memoir she details her feelings trying to juggle her career, children and still fight to recover from a condition doctors said would be permanent. Highly inspirational and an important lesson in learning to accept what life brings while still knowing that it's okay to not feel okay and that seeking help is not a weakness. Highly recommended and great on audio.
ermamac's review against another edition
I love Sarah Ruhl and stories about illness, so it is unsurprising that I enjoyed this book. I was especially struck by a passage at the end "The partial recovery is not terribly dramatic. I tis the stuff of life, not art. But the partial recovery is, I believe, very much like life. Most people have partially recovered from something." Illness can be so alienating, what a gift to think that most people are also partially recovered.
amsiegel95's review against another edition
3.0
Probably a 2.5/3. This book lacked some of the magic that lives in all of Sarah Ruhl's amazing plays. It was more a meandering retelling of her life with bells palsy. I'm not sure she quite knew what she wanted to say with this book.