Smile : the story of a face / Sarah Ruhl.
Material type:
TextPublisher: New York, NY : Simon & Schuster, 2021Copyright date: ©2021Edition: First Simon & Schuster hardcover editionDescription: 241 pages : illustrations ; 23 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9781982150945
- 1982150947
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | Biography | RUHL, S. R933 | Available | 33111010732036 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
* A People Best Book of the Year * Time and The Washington Post 's Most Anticipated List * Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence *
From the MacArthur genius, two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and playwright, this "captivating, insightful memoir" ( Kirkus Reviews , starred review) is "a beautiful meditation on identity and how we see ourselves" ( Real Simple ).
With a play opening on Broadway, and every reason to smile, Sarah Ruhl has just survived a high-risk pregnancy when she discovers the left side of her face is completely paralyzed. She is assured that 90 percent of Bell's palsy patients experience a full recovery--like Ruhl's own mother. But Sarah is in the unlucky ten percent. And for a woman, wife, mother, and artist working in theater, the paralysis and the disconnect between the interior and exterior brings significant and specific challenges. So Ruhl begins an intense decade-long search for a cure while simultaneously grappling with the reality of her new face--one that, while recognizably her own--is incapable of accurately communicating feelings or intentions.
In a series of piercing, profound, and lucid meditations, Ruhl chronicles her journey as a patient, wife, mother, and artist. She explores the struggle of a body yearning to match its inner landscape, the pain of postpartum depression, the story of a marriage, being a playwright and working mom to three small children, and the desire for a resilient spiritual life in the face of illness.
An intimate and "stunning" ( Publishers Weekly , starred review) examination of loss and reconciliation, "Ruhl reminds us that a smile is not just a smile but a vital form of communication, of bonding, of what makes us human" ( The Washington Post ). Brimming with insight, humility, and levity, Smile is a triumph by one of America's leading playwrights.
Includes bibliographical references (pages [235]-241).
"Happily married and in the flush of hard-earned professional success, with her first play opening on Broadway, Sarah Ruhl has just survived a high risk pregnancy and given birth to twins when she discovers the left side of her face entirely paralyzed. Bell's palsy. Ninety percent of Bell's palsy sufferers see spontaneous improvement and full recovery. Like Ruhl's mother. Like Angelina Jolie. But not like Sarah Ruhl. Sarah Ruhl is in the unlucky ten percent. Like Allen Ginsberg. But for a woman, a mother, a wife, and an artist working in the realm of theater, the paralysis and the disconnect between the interior and exterior, brings significant and specific challenges. So Ruhl begins an intense decade-long search for a cure, while simultaneously grappling with the reality of her new face-one that, while recognizably her own-is incapable of accurately communicating feelings or intentions. In a series of searing, witty, and lucid meditations, Ruhl chronicles her journey as a patient, mother, wife, and artist. She details the struggle of a body yearning to match its inner landscape, the pain post-partum depression, the joys and trials of marriage and being a playwright and a mother to three tiny children, and the desire for a resilient spiritual life in the face of difficulty." -- Provided by publisher.