Selected as one of the best books of the year by USA Today and the Voice Literary Supplement A New York Times Notable Book 'Despite its unblinking stare at an excrutiatingly painful subject, this is not a dour book. She captures what it is like as a child and a young adult to be torn between two warring impulses: to feel that more than anything else we want to be loved for who we are, while wishing desperately and secretly to be perfect. In this lyrical and strikingly candid memoir, Grealy tells her story of great suffering and remarkable strength without sentimentality and with considerable wit. It took her twenty years of living with a distorted self-image and more than thirty years of reconstructive procedures before she could come to terms with her appearance. When she returned to school with a third of her jaw removed, she faced the cruel taunts of classmates. At age nine, Lucy Grealy was diagnosed with a potentially terminal cancer.

“Engaging and engrossing, a story of grace as well as cruelty, and a demonstration of own wit and style and class.A New York Times Notable Book 'Grealy has turned her misfortune into a book that is engaging and engrossing, a story of grace as well as cruelty, and a demonstration of her own wit and style and class.'- Washington Post Book World 'It is impossible to read Autobiography of a Face without having your consciousness raised forever.' - Mirabella In this celebrated memoir and exploration of identity, cancer transforms the author's face, childhood, and the rest of her life. “Engaging and engrossing, a story of grace as well as cruelty, and a demonstration of own wit and style and class. “This is a young woman’s first book, the story of her own life, and both book and life are unforgettable. In this celebrated memoir and exploration of identity, cancer transforms the author’s face, childhood, and the rest of her life.Īt age nine, Lucy Grealy was diagnosed with a potentially terminal cancer.

Autobiography of a face by lucy grealy