Autobiography of a Face

<p><b>'Both book and life are unforgettable' </b><i><b>New York Times</b></i><br><br> <b>'Read it twice and then read it again' </b><b>Ann Patchett</b><br><br>At age nine, Lucy Grealy was diagnosed with cancer. <br><br>When she returned to school with a third of her jaw removed, she faced the cruel taunts of classmates. 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. <br><br>In this lyrical and strikingly candid memoir, Grealy tells her story of great suffering and remarkable strength without sentimentality and with considerable wit. 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.</p>