Best Selling Books by Lucy Grealy

A New York Times Notable Book. This "harrowing, lyrical autobiographical memoir . . . is a striking meditation on the distorting effects of our culture''s preoccupation with physical beauty" (Publishers Weekly). It took Lucy Grealy 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 cancer and surgery that left her jaw disfigured. As a young girl, she absorbed the searing pain of peer rejection and the paralyzing fear of never being loved. “This is a young woman’s first book, the story of her own life, and both book and life are unforgettable.”??—??New York Times “Engaging and engrossing, a story of grace as well as cruelty, and a demonstration of [Grealy''s] own wit and style and class."??—??Washington Post Book World

Whether she is contemplating promiscuity or The New Testament, lamenting about what she should have said to Oprah, or learning to tango, Grealy seduces and surprises the reader at every turn. With the sheer brilliance of her imagination, Grealy leads us on delightful journeys with her wit, unflinching honesty and peerless intelligence. A completely original thinker and a remarkable writer, the author leaves the reader with plenty to ponder. As Seen On TV breaks the mould of the essay, and is destined, like the memoir that preceded it, to become a modern classic. ''[Grealy is]. . . unforgettable.'' -New York Times ''[Grealy writes]-with exquisite prose and steely strength.'' -USA Today ''Lucy Grealy manages to convince an amazing array of people that she is speaking directly to them.'' -Baltimore Sun ''[Grealy] overcomes-with wit, intelligence and an unconquerable spirit.'' Mademoiselle

At the age of nine, the author was knocked on the jaw in her school playground. What her family initially thought was a toothache brought on by the accident, turned out to be Ewing''s syndrome, a rare form of cancer which, at the time of its diagnosis, had a 95% mortality rate. For a family with problems of their own, Lucy''s cancer treatment became an almost intolerable burden. The response of her family made Lucy feel like an outsider - and she alied herself with other outsiders, including transvestites and New Agers in an attempt to feel she belonged.

À 9 ans, on diagnostique chez Lucy un cancer dont le pronostic vital est très faible. Elle passe son enfance et son adolescence entre l''hôpital, la maison, l''école, confrontée à l''évidence écrasante de sa maladie : un tiers de sa mâchoire a disparu. Dans ce récit plein de grâce, parfois dur, teinté d''humour noir, Lucy Grealy aborde avec une rare franchise des questions universelles : comment donner sens à l''absurdité d''une longue maladie? y a-t-il vraiment du courage à taire sa souffrance? faut-il se plier à la dictature de l''image? comment trouver son identité, lorsqu''on ne sait plus quel est son vrai visage? Pour en avoir fait l''expérience, Lucy Grealy a su saisir la contradiction entre le besoin d''être aimé d''abord pour ce que l''on est, et la volonté secrète et désespérée d''être "parfait".