Book: Autobiography of a Face
Author: Lucy Grealy
Pages: 256
This is my 91st read for the year
This is the story of the author. When she was 9 years old she got diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma and had a large portion of her jaw removed to save her life. She endured years of painful surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation, taunts from classmates, and general stares of the public. She kept waiting for her happily ever after - thinking the next reconstructive surgery would solve everything and her life could begin. She spent her life looking for love and understanding all while trying to shield herself from the hurt and torment due to her appearance.
This was a good book. The author does a good job laying out her life story from the perspective of a child who had no idea what was going on. She didn't even know she had cancer until she was almost done with chemo because no one ever used the word in front of her. She spent most of her life internalizing her feelings and trying to defend herself in a world that was less than understanding. I looked up the author after I read this book and was sad to learn that she died of a heroin overdose in 2002 before she was even 40.
Stars: 4
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