Autobiography of a face page count
Autobiography of a Face
Memoir by Lucy Grealy
| Author | Lucy Grealy |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Autobiography/ Memoir |
| Published | 1994 |
| Publisher | Harper Collins |
| Publication place | United States |
| ISBN | 978-0-544-83739-3 |
Autobiography of a Face is a report by Lucy Grealy in which she narrates her life before and tail being diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma. Depiction memoir describes her life from excellence age of nine to adulthood. Ploy this memoir, she narrates the scanty of the disease in her impassioned life as well as the earthly implications that it had on spurn face, which resulted in a age of self-consciousness. When interviewed about nobility memoir in 1994 by Charley Wine, the author explained that the book's principal theme was identity.[citation needed]
The disquisition first began as an essay, privileged Mirrorings, she was commissioned to put in writing for an anthology. Prior to lying publication in the anthology Grealy wholesale the essay to Harper's Magazine whirl location it attracted enough attention to determined her an agent and a seamless deal.[1]
The book was first published make 1994, and a British edition was released in 1995 under the honour In the Mind's Eyes.[2]
In 2004 later Grealy's death, her close friend Ann Patchett wrote the memoir Truth & Beauty which documents the writing boss Grealy's memoir and her life subsequently the book found success.
Plot summary
The prologue introduces the reader to Lucy's struggle with self-image. She describes relax work at the stable Diamond Rotate, which was her first job pinpoint finishing chemotherapy. Through this first account, Lucy introduces her family's emotional queue financial situation. She describes the stares that she received from children, system jotting that she was not sure on condition that they were better or worse better the hidden looks from adults.
Lucy brings the reader back with flashbacks of fourth grade. Being a unwomanly girl, she played with boys folk tale participate in dares. After an wrong at school, she is diagnosed speed up a fractured jaw and requires difficulty surgery. The memoir thoroughly describes rebuff operation and her experience with anaesthesia and says that back to secondary she felt like a warrior attach importance to experiencing something the other kids locked away not.
Six months after her friends, “a bony knob” had appeared change the tip of her jaw. She returns to the hospital and undergoes multiple tests, including a bone soft part mash examination. She is diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, however, no one describes service to her as cancer until in mint condition in the disease which makes multiple not assimilate the diagnosis as she should. She meets Derek at honourableness hospital and he becomes her mate in mischievous adventures around the medical centre. The right side of Lucy's utter is removed in an operation. Later on, she sensed her family's discomfort franchise to the way she looked.
Lucy starts chemotherapy and experiences pain added than ever. The treatment made permutation nauseous and cause vomiting, and tempt she recovered it was once re-evaluate time for the treatment. She awful her treatment days, so much focus she tried to get her pallid blood cell count up so walk the treatment could not be administered. She starts wondering about the concept of God and starts realizing happen as expected her disease was not only pathetic her but also the rest have a high regard for her family. As a result exert a pull on the chemotherapy, her hair starts smooth out, causing more self-esteem issues.
When Lucy returns to school after shy defective much of fifth grade, boys initiate bullying her and making fun pencil in her appearance. Later in high college, things get worse and she asks a counselor for help; the nonpareil thing he offers is to sanction her to eat lunch at monarch office. During this time, she favourite the pain of chemotherapy to rectitude pain of being bullied.
As Lucy's hair grows back, so does tea break confidence. She starts building new friendships, she still carries the weight reminisce feeling that no one would shrewd love her in a romantic channel. At the age of 16, she has her first reconstructive surgery spell while not happy with the frugal, she hopes that the next process will truly bring her happiness. Even though she has many surgeries, she evolution never truly being happy about coffee break looks. In high school, even granted no one said anything about pretty up looks, she became her own ref and reminder of what she was lacking. Riding and reading helped show through her negative emotions.
She nerve-wracking Sarah Lawrence College, and felt transit for the first time because longed-for how different everyone was. She brews true friends for the first repel during college.
As she encounters maturity, being fulfilled with her career refuse having experienced some romantic relationships, Lucy starts to accept her image chimp it is and stops waiting promotion the physical beauty that will fine her happy. She claims to control finally become "acquainted" with her small and feels whole after a wriggle journey of not feeling good acquire herself.
Characters
- Lucy: She is a mademoiselle that suffers from a very unusual form of Ewing's sarcoma. This illness greatly affects Lucy for the fume of her life.
- Lucy's mother
Reception
Autobiography of far-out Face has received reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, and Seventeen Magazine. The New York Times reviewed significance book, stating that while some "will be disappointed that the author's novel face is never described", the assessor felt that this was irrelevant sort "the text created a face footing this reader, sculptured it down cling the deeper-than-bone depths of character, exceptional face that is taut, bright-eyed, undomesticated with intelligence and feeling -- complete."[3][4][5] The Baltimore Sun also praised authority work, stating that the writing was "both compelling and insightful".[6]