Smile
The Story of a Face
by Sarah Ruhl
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Pub Date Oct 05 2021 | Archive Date Oct 05 2021
Simon & Schuster | S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books
Description
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.
Advance Praise
"With a poet’s sharp eye for detail and a playwright’s grasp of both the tragic and the absurd, Sarah Ruhl has written a remarkable book. Smile is at once a gripping story and a profound exploration of the mysteries of illness. I know of nothing like it." — James Shapiro, author of Shakespeare in a Divided America
"I’m now accustomed to Sarah’s whipping out profound and necessary books that I can’t put down even when I smell dinner burning, but I guess I wasn’t prepared for her book about Bell’s Palsy to provide some of the most deeply romantic passages about married love I have ever read. I smiled, for sure, but I also swooned and ached and was left with goose-flesh more than once. I adore this book."
— Mary Louise Parker, New York Times bestselling author of Dear Mr. You
“Sarah Ruhl's ravishing memoir, Smile, is that rare and gorgeous melding of gemlike, literary insights, raw honesty, heart break and radiant wisdom. It took my breath away. For real.” — V (formerly Eve Ensler), New York Times bestselling author of I Am an Emotional Creature, The Vagina Monologues and The Apology
Marketing Plan
-National Print and Online Advertising
-Multi-City Tour & Virtual Event Programming
-Extensive ARC bookstore mailings
-Trade Advertising, including NetGalley, Edelweiss and Shelf Awareness Promotions
-Multi-month Goodreads Giveaways and Campaign
-Buzz-building Partnered Sweepstakes
-Targeted consumer email marketing campaign
-Multi-month prepublication promotion on Facebook and Instagram
-Book Club Marketing and Reading Group Resources
-Digital Influencer Mailings
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781982150945 |
| PRICE | $27.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 256 |
Available on NetGalley
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