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A review by maryehavens
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
2.0
I really struggled with reading this book, mostly in that I think the size of font made me fall asleep (Yay 40s!). The low score is explained below and has everything to do with me as a reader and not Grealy's work.
Grealy's writing is very good but it took the Afterward from Ann Patchett to explain why I was struggling. Grealy wrote this as a piece of literature, not a straight up memoir and it took Patchett explaining that for me to understand a bit about why I was struggling. Patchett also said that it was a circular book and I really struggle with circular writing. Once I read that, I completely understood my difficulties.
I read this book originally because Grealy and Patchett were very close friends and I read Patchett's "Truth and Beauty" last year. I appreciated getting Grealy's take but I definitely felt like the Grealy in Patchett's book was not the Grealy here. This Grealy was so incredibly vulnerable but always a bit hidden whereas Patchett's Grealy was the life of the party. But, Grealy was detailing her experience from 9 years old to probably mid 20s (?) where Patchett had only met her when she was in her 20s and maybe after the book's timeline ended.
I picked this book for the Reading Challenge category "author/character with a disability" and I questioned the entire time if it qualified for that category. Grealy never mentions trouble talking/eating or any other physical disabilities but mental disability is very much a thing and I can't help but think that her lifetime of self-doubt and quest for truth and beauty because of her face doesn't qualify her as having a disability. The scope of the what the Americans with Disabilities Act covers is much expanded from Grealy's days.
I don't think I can get over her treatment in the hospital and with medical professionals. It was terrible and I hope that treatment today is better.
While I appreciate this book and I'm glad I read it, I will not be taking Patchett's advice and reading it again. I'm glad Patchett included her take on Grealy's book readings and the invitation that audience gave themselves to share their own cancer stories. Grealy was definitely not about that in her book rather she was more interested in processing her experience as literature.
Grealy's writing is very good but it took the Afterward from Ann Patchett to explain why I was struggling. Grealy wrote this as a piece of literature, not a straight up memoir and it took Patchett explaining that for me to understand a bit about why I was struggling. Patchett also said that it was a circular book and I really struggle with circular writing. Once I read that, I completely understood my difficulties.
I read this book originally because Grealy and Patchett were very close friends and I read Patchett's "Truth and Beauty" last year. I appreciated getting Grealy's take but I definitely felt like the Grealy in Patchett's book was not the Grealy here. This Grealy was so incredibly vulnerable but always a bit hidden whereas Patchett's Grealy was the life of the party. But, Grealy was detailing her experience from 9 years old to probably mid 20s (?) where Patchett had only met her when she was in her 20s and maybe after the book's timeline ended.
I picked this book for the Reading Challenge category "author/character with a disability" and I questioned the entire time if it qualified for that category. Grealy never mentions trouble talking/eating or any other physical disabilities but mental disability is very much a thing and I can't help but think that her lifetime of self-doubt and quest for truth and beauty because of her face doesn't qualify her as having a disability. The scope of the what the Americans with Disabilities Act covers is much expanded from Grealy's days.
I don't think I can get over her treatment in the hospital and with medical professionals. It was terrible and I hope that treatment today is better.
While I appreciate this book and I'm glad I read it, I will not be taking Patchett's advice and reading it again. I'm glad Patchett included her take on Grealy's book readings and the invitation that audience gave themselves to share their own cancer stories. Grealy was definitely not about that in her book rather she was more interested in processing her experience as literature.