Autobiography of a Face

"I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I picked this book up. I knew it was an autobiography and that was about it. I knew from the picture on the back of the book that the author had lost a portion of her jaw. I had no idea what an impact the book would have on me.

Words cannot describe the power of this book. Many parts were hard for me to read, especially the parts about her reaction to chemotherapy as my mother had undergone chemo and I had no idea how she did it. It is amazing to me that someone can have such a cynical and yet sometimes hilarious outlook on life and human behavior. In the end, it was certainly a roller coaster emotional ride that I'm glad I went on. For better or worse, I now see the world through slightly different eyes."
~ Written on 2010-08-31

"Autobiography of a Face was Lucy Grealy's first book and an inspiring insight into her battle with cancer, and life in the years afterward. The majority of the story takes place during her earlier years of life intermixed between her suburban home and hospital care.
From the science side of things, not much information is given about her cancer or the biology involved with it. But, the book gave me a clearer understanding of what it's like to live with cancer. The detailed descriptions of the pain and suffering involved through chemotherapy treatment was something you can't get from a purely informational source, and I believe the book's emotional vie of cancer helped with my understanding of specifically Ewing Sarcoma Tumors and other types of cancer as well. When compared with the technology available at the time of her diagnosis and the aspects of Ewing sarcomas in general, Lucy's story is truly remarkable. EWS are very rare, and the chance of survival, especially at the time, make Lucy's case even more of a miracle.
Because Lucy Grealy's cancer scarred her teenage years the most, I was able to place myself in her position and imagine being treated the way she was. I admire her strength and courage to face the dramatic world of high school, day after day while people constantly criticized her facial scarring. I also admire her ability to control herself so well while in immense pain. I would never be able to keep a complacent composure while receiving chemotherapy. I also admire her strive to surpass physical beauty, by understanding the true inner beauty in seemingly ordinary things.
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~ Written on 2009-11-09

"I really wanted to like this book. I had become interested in Lucy Grealy's life after reading her friend Ann Patchett's book, Truth and Beauty, an excellent thorns-and-all memoir on Lucy and their friendship. I also am interested in body image issues, so I thought I'd love this one.

This book had great potential--Grealy has quite a story to tell. Diagnosed in childhood with a rare and often fatal form of cancer, she triumphed only to face disfigurement when the cancer caused her to lose part of her face. She then had to deal with surgery after surgery to fix her disfigurement, and none of those surgeries seemed to really work. She is teased by children, must deal with the possibility of never falling in love, has a family tragedy in the middle of it all. Most horrific is that Grealy got hooked on painkillers and died less than a decade after this was written.

And yet...this memoir is incredibly boring. Grealy keeps us at arm's length, rarely letting us in on her emotions. Most of the time, she focuses on the gruesome medical details of the operations. (Don't read this while you're eating.) Or she'll write about something that happened to her and at the end of it, you'll go "What? What does this have to do with anything?" I don't understand how you can make such an interesting life so boring, but somehow, Grealy manages it. I hate to write a bad review, because she led such a tough life and you've got to give her props for getting through that, and this book is not without some literary merit, but this is not the great memoir it could have been. If you want to know more about Grealy, I would go with Truth and Beauty, literally one of the best books I've ever read.

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~ Written on 2009-08-23

"Grealy is honest without being sorry about it, and amazingly doesn't come across as feeling sorry for herself at all. In fact, she told her story with candor and dark humor.

I didn't like it as well as Truth & Beauty - Ann Patchett writes in a style I prefer, and she was easier to relate to in general, since she's more like all of us than Lucy Grealy ever had the chance to be.

Nonetheless, Grealy's autobiography was moving, and a worthwhile read."
~ Written on 2009-06-12

"Lucy Grealy writes poignantly and poetically about the way her battles with cancer
of the jaw have affected her life since childhood. This autobiography chronicles
her surgeries, struggles, denial and, finally, acceptance of herself as the mirror of
her face. Facing things might be an apt metaphor here.

The metaphor of face, along with her identification of self as she deals with the
ravages wrought on her face, are examined from many different vantage points.
At first, Ms. Grealy is in denial that she has become different looking. She then
avoids any acknowledgment of how she's changed post-surgeries.

The story shows no self-pity. Rather, she shares the evolution of her life, family,
and growing self-awareness in a chronology of events marked by treatments and
surgeries. This is a beautiful book!!!!"
~ Written on 2009-04-02