Autobiography of a Face Book

I first learned about Lucy Grealy through Ann Patchett's memoir Truth and Beauty, a memoir dedicated to her complex friendship with Grealy. I almost wish I hadn't read it first; in that case, I wouldn't have approached this book with deep sadness for what the future was to bring for Grealy.

Grealy is a poet. Each sentence was crafted with so much love, meaning, and feeling. Throughout the book, she takes the reader into her confidence while relating her complicated relationship with herself, and acceptance of her imperfections. Diagnosed with cancer at the age of nine, Lucy spends most of her child and adult life in and out of hospitals battling the disease, and then reconstructing her face due to the aftermath of invasive treatments. Trying to define why she was destined to her painful fate, and coping with her fear of never being loved, Grealy dissects loneliness and conformity until it's an uncomfortable kernel.

"I felt pulled in two different directions. I had tasted what it was like to feel loved, to feel whole, and I had liked that taste. But fear kept insisting that I needed someone else's longing to believe in that love. No matter how philosophical my ideals, I boiled every equation down to these simple terms: was I lovable or was I ugly?"

I liked the way this book ended; it was almost hopeful. Grealy's premature death was really sad. Any Google search will fill you in on the details. I wish she had been able to overcome her past, and find her happiness. What a deep loss.