Sarah Ruhl

Not a simple memoir--this happened and this and this and this-- Ruhl involves us in her process of making sense of the Bell's palsy she developed and what it means to not be able to fully express joy or to feel you must withdraw your real self from the gaze of others. In her journey to identifying what has happened to her body, she discovers she had celiac disease and more importantly, that it can be genetic and affect other aspects of physical wellbeing (one of her children tested positive, after this discovery, and her father's early death was likely related also). She quotes from a wide variety of sources, a reflection of the reading she did while trying to find how to live with an imperfect body. She is honest and open about her thoughts, fears, and journey via Buddhism, acupuncture,dreams and therapy. She reflects on the larger social relevance of how we see ourselves. She shares stories about her family: her husband and 3 children, her mother, and her (deceased) father. She is intelligent and is able to share some of the medical resources she used in terms that the average reader can understand. It is obvious that Ruhl is a professional writer, crafting the arc of her narrative to draw relationships between events. She shares insights that any reader can relate to.
e.g. She mentions Tatyana Fazlalizadeh's mural "Stop Telling Women to Smile" and extends that to a realization that men who say that to women feel entitled to tell them what to feel, that they have authority over her inner experiences. Then goes on to mention Joe Scarborough telling Hillary Clinton to smile after winning a primary, gymnast Simone Biles being told by a white judge to smile more during competitions, and ends by quoting Daaimah Mubashshir's play 'The Immeasurable Want of Light'.
Includes a list of resources for 1)cholestasis during pregnancy, 2)celiac disease, 3)postpartum depression, and 4)Lyme's Disease; followed by a lengthy list of sources for all her quotes.… (mehr)