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amoskane's review against another edition
5.0
I like feeling like I know Lucy Grealy; the little bit that I do. She makes me less afraid of hospital rooms and more interested in understanding myself as I might appear as a character in my own book.
I think this is a work of extreme discipline: she managed to write an autobiography, as she claims, of her face. Its not an exploration of her relationship with her mother, her intense inner life, her coming of age, the meaning of art or of sex or of sickness. It is all those things, but it resonates as something so much more. It's about how a person struggles to live inside a piece of meat; and how a piece of meat struggles to hold and resemble a person.
I think this is a work of extreme discipline: she managed to write an autobiography, as she claims, of her face. Its not an exploration of her relationship with her mother, her intense inner life, her coming of age, the meaning of art or of sex or of sickness. It is all those things, but it resonates as something so much more. It's about how a person struggles to live inside a piece of meat; and how a piece of meat struggles to hold and resemble a person.
juliabodson's review against another edition
3.0
This book really upset and disturbed me. Grealy is a good storyteller, but I wonder if it wasn't the right time for me to know this story. I'm dampening many of my thoughts and feelings about this memoir because they're too upsetting.
belinda_h's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
beillumined's review against another edition
4.0
Powerful, moving, and deeply sad, my second reading of Lucy Grealy's autobiography touched me even more than the first time I read it, probably because I know what the outcome of her life is now.
If you are ever feeling vain, sorry for yourself, or troubled about your circumstances, it might do good to step into Lucy's book for a moment a set yourself straight. Beautifully written and terribly sad, it's hard not to look away from the pages of a girl that no one could bear to look at.
If you are ever feeling vain, sorry for yourself, or troubled about your circumstances, it might do good to step into Lucy's book for a moment a set yourself straight. Beautifully written and terribly sad, it's hard not to look away from the pages of a girl that no one could bear to look at.
aharv9's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Perspective of the author during treatment.
saraqt's review against another edition
4.0
I'm usually not one to read the end of a book part way through, but while looking a how many pages were in this book about half way through, I read the afterword. I think this changed how I read the book and what I thought about Lucy. I thought the perspective of her childhood cancer was breathtaking. Her mother's inability to comfort her during her trying times, her father's need not to see his daughter in pain, her lack of true understanding about the disease plaguing her body all rang true to me. Though her later story became about accepting herself despite her disfigurement, the childhood and middle school struggles really resonated with me as a reader.
cstaude's review against another edition
2.0
Found this piece of nonfiction to be frankly depressing. A young woman driven by our society's fixation on appearance.... so sad.