A Review of 'Autobiography of a Face' by Lucy Grealy

I have finished another one! I’m insanely happy!

“Lucy Grealy’s ruthless self-examination, rich fantasy life, and great derring-do inform this powerful memoir about the premium we put on beauty and on a woman’s face in particular. It took Lucy twenty years of living with a distorted self-image and more than thirty reconstructive procedures before she could come to terms with her appearance after childhood surgery left her jaw disfigured. As a young girl she absorbed the searing pain of peer rejection and the guilty pleasures of wanting to be special. Later she internalized the paralyzing fear of never being loved. Heroically and poignantly, she learned to define herself from the inside out.

This memoir arrives at a time when the worship of beauty in our culture is at all-time high, a time when more and more women seek physical perfection. Lucy Grealy awakens in us the difficult truth that beauty, finally, is to be found deep within.”

I used to think that I hated non-fiction, but memoirs seem to be the exception. Memoirs are cool!

I think a lot of us can relate to this in one way or another. I myself identified with the feelings of not feeling pretty enough for the world or that one special guy. Lucy’s words were painful to read, because as I kept reading and growing more and more attached to her, I kept thinking ‘How can anyone not love you?” She is honest and knowledgeable. She is a beautiful person!

It’s sad to think that there are people that are still out there that judge people based on their face. It really doesn’t matter whether that girl/boy has that angelic face that you see in your dreams. When it comes down to it, if you become involved with that person, would you stay even if they treat you horribly? Probably not, because you would get sick of it.

This book was definitely eye-opening. I highly recommend that you pick it up.

I’m sorry I haven’t written very much for this book. This post is supposed to be about this memoir, and I’m afraid it’s going to turn into a rant that can’t be controlled. I don’t want that because I’ll only look back and say to myself “I just didn’t know when to stop” and you’ll probably get really bored with it.

Have a good week everyone! It’s labor day tomorrow, which means no school or work! Huzzah!

--Jude

P.S. What do you think of the make-over? That brown background just wasn’t doing it for me. I think this feels a little cooler and calmer. But if you don’t like it, I’ll try to compromise it the best I can.