K E M. (Rampallion) reviewed on 12/1/2005 + 158 more book reviews

A memoir in which the author describes being diagnosed with cancer of the jaw at age nine, having a third of her jaw removed, and dealing with how her changed looks affected her and those around her. Grealy is a poet, which shows in her spare, beautiful writing style:

"I spent five years of my life being treated for cancer, but since then I've spent fifteen years being treated for nothing other than looking different from everyone else. It was the pain from that, from feeling ugly, that I always viewed as the great tragedy of my life. The fact that I had cancer seemed minor in comparison."

A thought-provoking book with no room for sentimentality or self-pity.

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