Don't Kill the Birthday Girl: Tales from an Allergic Life

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More About This Book

Overview

A beautifully written and darkly funny journey through the world of the allergic.
 
Like twelve million other Americans, Sandra Beasley suffers from food allergies. Her allergies—severe and lifelong—include dairy, egg, soy, beef, shrimp, pine nuts, cucumbers, cantaloupe, honeydew, mango, macadamias, pistachios, cashews, swordfish, and mustard. Add to that mold, dust, grass and tree pollen, cigarette smoke, dogs, rabbits, horses, and wool, and it’s no wonder Sandra felt she had to live her life as “Allergy Girl.” When butter is deadly and eggs can make your throat swell shut, cupcakes and other treats of childhood are out of the question—and so Sandra’s mother used to warn guests against a toxic, frosting-tinged kiss with “Don’t kill the birthday girl!”
 
It may seem that such a person is “not really designed to survive,” as one blunt nutritionist declared while visiting Sandra’s fourth-grade class. But Sandra has not only survived, she’s thrived—now an essayist, editor, and award-winning poet, she has learned to navigate a world in which danger can lurk in an unassuming corn chip. Don’t Kill the Birthday Girl is her story.
 
With candor, wit, and a journalist’s curiosity, Sandra draws on her own experiences while covering the scientific, cultural, and sociological terrain of allergies. She explains exactly what an allergy is, describes surviving a family reunion in heart-of-Texas beef country with her vegetarian sister, delves into how being allergic has affected her romantic relationships, exposes the dark side of Benadryl, explains how parents can work with schools to protect their allergic children, and details how people with allergies should advocate for themselves in a restaurant.
 
A compelling mix of memoir, cultural history, and science, Don’t Kill the Birthday Girl is mandatory reading for the millions of families navigating the world of allergies—and a not-to-be-missed literary treat for the rest of us.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
In this intelligent and witty memoir, poet Beasley (I Was the Jukebox) recounts her lifelong struggle to live a normal life while waging a battle against deadly food allergies. The author is one of "more than 12 million Americans who have been diagnosed with food allergies, a figure that includes almost 4% of all children." The title of this enthralling book is not hyperbole. As little as a kiss or hug from a family member or a friend who had eaten cake or ice cream at a birthday party could cause Beasley to break out in hives or, worse, suffer anaphylactic shock. She calls sherbet "sweet, icy death in a bowl." Beasley details her vigilant parents' never-ending routine for keeping her safe during her childhood until she left for college, how she and her friends coped with "the thousand minor hassles of living with" her food allergies during college, and the perils of eating while traveling. Throughout this thoughtful and well-written book, Beasley closes the knowledge gap surrounding food allergies. She writes entertainingly about the history of allergies, and current research findings; religious issues surrounding food allergies; and processed foods and their hidden ingredients. (June)
Kirkus Reviews

Former American Scholar editor and award-winning poet Beasley's debut memoir is a fascinating—though at times disjointed—account of living with severe allergies.

The author's earliest recollections involved birthdays and the way they highlighted her difference from others. While her mother would give her "Sandra-friendly" treats, she would prepare a cake for everyone else and warn guests not to touch, kiss or hug her—hives, anaphylactic shock or death could be the unwelcome result.Needless to say, growing up sensitive to more than a dozen kinds of foods and 10 different kinds of animals and environmental elements was a huge challenge.From babyhood well into adolescence, Beasley and her parents never knew which foods would cause illness.Though her home environment could accommodate her condition, whenever she went out—to school, to friends' houses and restaurants—she could never be certain that the few foods she could safely eat hadn't been tainted with traces of what she couldn't.As a result, from the time she was in elementary school, she had to carry an adult-sized purse loaded with Benadryl, an EpiPen auto-injector and an inhaler.Speaking as the survivor of too-numerous-to-count trips to the emergency room, she writes "[t]here's a reason they're called allergy 'attacks'; you never knew where a food can be lurking." Interspersed with memories of the daily game of "Russian roulette" she was forced to play well into young adulthood are well-researched sections about such neglected topics as the history of allergy identification and treatment, as well as interesting anecdotes about the little-known social exclusions faced by people with allergies. However, Beasley seems to be trying to write two books in one: the first, about her life, and the second about an important topic (food allergies) that deserves greater attention than it has so far received.

Uneven but humane and informative.

More Reviews (2) Fewer Reviews
Suzanne Allard Levingston
…[an] honest and amusing medical memoir that's also a patient-written primer on food allergies…Beasley diligently recounts the history and science of food allergies, but she's most engaging when she weaves in her own story.
—The Washington Post
Library Journal
Kiss the birthday girl? Never! Beasley has had such severe allergies her whole life that the mere crumbs clinging to her friends' sticky lips would have sent her to the hospital. Hence her mother's warning, as seen in the title. Yet another poet trying out the memoir form, award winner Beasley (e.g., Barnard Women Poets) offers a cultural study of living the "allergic life" that could appeal to anyone with food allergies (up to 12 million Americans). With a readers' guide.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780307588111
  • Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
  • Publication date: 7/12/2011
  • Pages: 240
  • Sales rank: 152,355
  • Product dimensions: 5.70 (w) x 8.30 (h) x 1.00 (d)

Meet the Author

Sandra Beasley
Sandra Beasley

SANDRA BEASLEY is the author of the poetry collections I Was the Jukebox, winner of the 2009 Barnard Women Poets Prize, and Theories of Falling, which won the 2007 New Issues Poetry Prize. Her honors include a DCCAH Individual Artist Fellowship, the Friends of Literature Prize from the Poetry Foundation, and the Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award from Poets & Writers, Inc. She lives in Washington, D.C., where her prose has been featured in the Washington Post Magazine.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5
( 10 )

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Sort by: Showing all of 10 Customer Reviews

  • Posted January 31, 2012

    Clueless

    Everybody is saying this is a good book and some say it is bad.You should have your own opinion.It is about a girl that has allergies.How do you think it is?

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted January 27, 2012

    Recommended for food allergy sufferers!

    I was immediately drawn to this book because I myself suffer from food allergies. Not only does Sandra give you details into her life regarding the hardships she has faced, but she also provides very knowledgable information to readers who may not understand just how severe food allergies can be. I felt very connected to the story, especially when she mentioned how she had to always wear the perfect size purse to house her epi pen, inhaler, and benadryl. She has shown that even though people can suffer from food allergies, they can still lead normal lives.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted January 16, 2012

    Kritters Ramblings

    As I am the girl with no allergies, other than the occasional red bumps on the legs from a picnic in the grass, I am that skeptic that thinks that the world is overreacting and too accommodating to those who have allergies. After reading this book, I am a little more empathetic but also don't think our schools need to go to the drastic measures that they sometimes do.

    A memoir that takes place right around the corner from where I live, in Arlington, VA with a little girl who is growing up with a long laundry list of allergies to many food groups. As the title suggests, many traditions and events revolve around food where a child with allergies may feel left out because they can not partake in the complete ritual due to an allergy to one food group or another.

    A book that I would definitely recommend as a great memoir that may open your minds to how families must cope if a child or parent has any kind of food allergy or illness that may limit the foods that they may eat.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted November 3, 2011

    A must read!

    This book is a must read if someone in your life suffers from allergies. I've had allergies (both food and environmental) since I was 11 months old; this book does a wonderful job of explaining how I felt growing up and the challenges of living with allergies. I also found myself laughing out loud when the author shared some of her stories -- it felt great to know that I'm not the only one experiencing these feelings and challenges.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted September 18, 2011

    I can can relate

    As a allergenic I can soooooo relate to this book one thing though I only have a peanut allergy: ) but i thought it was a great book :)

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  • Posted August 7, 2011

    Waste of money

    I really disliked this book and could not even finish it.

    0 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 6, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

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    Posted November 3, 2011

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    Posted September 8, 2011

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    Posted November 29, 2011

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