A Grotesque Animal
by Amy Lee Lillard
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Pub Date Jun 05 2024 | Archive Date Jun 05 2024
University of Iowa Press | University Of Iowa Press
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Description
A Grotesque Animal explores the making, unmaking, and making again of a woman with an undiagnosed disorder. How did a working- class background and a deep-rooted Midwest culture of silence lead to hiding in plain sight for decades? How did sexuality and anger hide the roots of trauma among the women in her family? And what does it mean to be a queer, disabled, aging woman, a descendent of wild but tamed mothers and a survivor of the things patriarchy inflicts?
Through wide-ranging styles and a combination of personal storytelling and cultural analysis, Lillard dissects anger, sexuality, autistic masking, bodies, punk, and female annihilation to create a new picture of modern women.
Advance Praise
“Amy Lee Lillard’s A Grotesque Animal is a book that bares both teeth and soul. A bold and unabashed call to name our stories and ourselves, to take off the masks we’ve been taught to wear and to live without shame. In a collection of essays both searching and searing, Lillard explores the possibilities of womanhood, weirdness, selfhood, and home, interrogating the stories and silences we inherit, those we tell ourselves, and those we cast off. This is a book for the weird women—the queer women, the disabled women, the childfree and witchy women, who resist and refuse the narratives they’re given about what their bodies should be, who write their own stories, and who claim a new language for their lives.”—Melissa Faliveno, author, Tomboyland
“This striking memoir sheds light on a topic that has been hidden for too long: the challenges and triumphs of girls and women with autism. At a time when growing numbers of women are receiving this diagnosis at mid-life, Lillard offers clarity, hope, and companionship to those faced with relearning who they are and what matters most to them.”—Kaitlin Ugolik Phillips, author, The Future of Feeling: Building Empathy in a Tech-Obsessed World
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781609389574 |
| PRICE | $20.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 186 |
Links
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
A D, Reviewer
A lot of women get diagnosed later in life and to see the representation here is very compelling, giving voices to the queer, disabled, aging women that I identify with.
Venus V, Reviewer
A stream of conscious confessional of Amy : a queer feminist, a punk rocker, a witch, a late diagnosed autistic woman.
So much of this memoir resonated with me as a queer woman who was also diagnosed late with autism.(at age 23) I connected with her from the very beginning. I especially felt seen as fuck when it came to her chapter about masking. (A little ironic. Hush.)
We follow Amy throughout her life as she tells us about her new diagnosis and how it makes her feel / look back on things in her life, her family upbringing and also a ten year relationship with a man.
Blurring the line of fiction and nonfiction, this was raw, real, full of heart and justified anger. I want to give her a big consensual hug and tell her that she is not alone - even though she already knows that.
Such a good memoir, and I’m glad I read this - but also so glad she wrote it for not only us, but herself.
3.5/5
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All of these thoughts and opinions are my own.
Ann M, Reviewer
An interesting memoir about growing up and searching for your identity. And then in mid-life, she discovers she has autism, which then puts her life, identity and growing up into clearer focus. This is a collection of essays about this experience, about being female, about being queer, about being autistic and having to "wear masks." We also learn about her toxic romantic partnership so a theme for me is about being "seen" and being respected for who you are as an individual. A very poignant and thought-provoking read.
Thank you to Netgalley and University of Iowa Press for an ARC and I voluntarily left this review.
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