Story Circle Network

Austin Chapter
Reader's Guide

June 2006

Autobiography of a Face
Lucy Grealy

Diagnosed at age nine with Ewing's sarcoma, a cancer that severely disfigured her face, Grealy lost half her jaw, recovered after two and half years of chemotherapy and radiation, then underwent plastic surgery over the next 20 years to reconstruct her jaw. This harrowing, lyrical autobiographical memoir, which grew out of an award-winning article published in Harper's in 1993, is a striking meditation on the distorting effects of our culture's preoccupation with physical beauty...

  1. What was your overall impression of this book? What did you like? Dislike?

  2. Page 5: "I considered animals bearers of higher truth, and I wanted to align myself with their knowledge. I thought animals were the only beings capable of understanding me." What do you think about that? Have you had similar feelings?

  3. Page 6: "I was honing my self-consciousness into a torture device..." Page 7: "I was my face, I was ugliness..." Respond to these quotations; do you think that this was Lucy's effort at self-preservation? Did she have another choice?

  4. What did you think about her not knowing that she had had CANCER? Was that a positive or negative thing for Lucy, not knowing?

  5. Page 14: "How could one doubt that the order in which one was picked for the softball team was anything but concurrent with the order in which Life would be handing out favors?" Comment on this quotation.

  6. Chapter 2: Petting Zoo (hospital's animal lab) "Sooner or later we all have to learn the words with which to name our own private losses..." How did Lucy name hers?

  7. Lucy mentions having a twin sister, as well as several other siblings. Yet we know next to nothing about them. Why do you think that is? I was especially surprised to not learn more about her twin, given the normal closeness of twins.

  8. Comment on Lucy's relationship with her parents. Her mother told her not to cry during her many treatments. Her father left her to deal with it alone.

  9. Page 86: What do you think about (and what meaning do you assign to) Lucy's sense of failure / belief that she was undeserving of comfort (she dreamed about babysitting and the children drowning)?

  10. Page 99: "I couldn't bear to think...that somehow everything I was going through didn't actually have meaning." (Lucy's search for meaning / God) Have you had similar feelings?

  11. Page 130: Lucy talks about being critical & sympathetic of people who envy/wish for a life/something other than what they have, yet sees herself doing the same thing -- not valuing what she does have. Were you surprised by her insight?

  12. Page 152: Lucy put up with much teasing/bullying by other children (esp. boys). She quotes MLK: "I will not allow my oppressors to dictate to me the means of my resistance." Do you think she succeeded in following King's advice?

There are a couple of photos of Lucy here: http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/MSC/ToMsC800/MsC767/MsC767_grealylucy.htm

The Story Circle Network is a national not-for-profit membership organization made up of women who want to explore their lives and their souls by exploring their personal stories. If you would like to learn more about the Network and its activities, please sign up for our free email newsletters!