Floppy: Tales of a Genetic Freak of Nature at the End of the World

by Alyssa Graybeal

Overview

When ten-year-old Alyssa is diagnosed with the rare genetic connective tissue disorder Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, she vows not to let it stop her. Unfortunately, her efforts to avoid being "too sensitive" lead her to neglect not only her health but other aspects of her life as well. Twenty years later, she’s finally forced to confront the reality of her condition head on. When she finds herself tangled in an unwieldy combination of chronic pain, a library job for which she is particularly ill-suited, and her wife’s mystifying health problems, her body starts to unravel in ways she can no longer ignore. If pushing through is not the answer, what does homecoming to her floppy body even look like?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781636280974
Publisher:	Red Hen Press
Publication date:	05/30/2023
Pages:	280
Sales rank:	477,327
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Alyssa Graybeal is a queer writer and cartoonist whose work focuses on the emotional landscape of living with chronic illness and disability, in particular the connective tissue disorder Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Floppy: Tales of a Genetic Freak of Nature at the End of the World is her first memoir and won the 2020 Red Hen Press Nonfiction Book Award. She has a BA from McGill Universityand an MLIS from Dalhousie University, and she works as an editor and writing coach. You can find her online at www.alyssagraybeal.com. She lives in Astoria, Oregon. 

Editorial Reviews

"Floppy is an unflinching yet charmingly written memoir of one person’s negotiations with love and body, family and geography, the internal and the external. I very much enjoyed it."
—Michelle Tea, author of Against Memoir

Alyssa Graybeal is a genius. This refreshing coming-of-age memoir with its sick, queer perspective will remind you that humor is essential and sensitivity is a strength. Graybeal’s voice is like a great, weird friend, and you can trust her to tell the truth even when it’s painful.
—Ariel Gore, author of We Were Witches and The End of Eve

In a spiral through time, Graybeal knits a wise, generous story of resilience and beyond. It's about alignment and aligning–with the body, with every body. It's also a story about connection and connectivity and a larger ideal of care. With a hard-won and ever-present sense of humor, this is a powerful story with a cure for the ableism that ails us all.
—Jenny Forrester, author of Narrow River, Wide Sky and Soft-Hearted Stories.

In these exquisitely written recollections, Alyssa Graybeal spins a richly imaged and often hilarious story from the fibers of her own quest for life while navigating the challenges of having a rare genetic disorder. Graybeal’s sharp wit and keen attention to details makes reading Floppy an intimate journey across the Canadian landscape to the Pacific Northwest and into a queer body with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a condition that wreaks havoc on connective tissue. An exemplar on how to DIY a beautiful life, despite having a body insistent on falling down and coming apart. It’s both a tale of self-care and a call for change in a healthcare system that has historically gaslit people with chronic illnesses.
—Rebecca Fish Ewan, author of By the Forces of Gravity and Doodling for Writers

Graybeal, a self-labeled genetic freak who was diagnosed as a child with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, pulls us into the landscape of her floppy body with precision and grace. Brimming with queer love, cats, and the awkwardness of being human, Floppy is a roadmap for how we must learn to fight for the truth of our experiences, and how we can love the broken, beautiful body-homes we all live in.
—Laraine Herring, author of A Constellation of Ghosts: A Speculative Memoir with Ravens

Graybeal performs the remarkable literary feat of narrating complex childhood experiences of embodied uncertainty and suffering in a voice that is sincere—but never precious—and critical—but not jaded. For people with EDS and their loved ones, this book is a rare blessing, the first of its kind to address not the “how-tos” of living with this condition but the emotional landscape it creates. The importance of this writing for the future of this community cannot be overstated.

—Megan Moodie, author of WE WERE ADIVASIS; Associate Professor of Anthropology, UC Santa Cruz

"This is not a tidy story, but in its messiness, Graybeal's book reflects the complexity of life with EDS. Those coming to terms with their own chronic illness or that of a loved one will find this unflinching memoir illuminating." —Rebecca Hopman, Booklist

"In this compelling memoir, debut author and cartoonist Graybeal writes about her life living with chronic pain and her childhood diagnosis of the rare genetic connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome." —Bridgette Whitt, Library Journal

From the Publisher

04/01/2023

In this compelling memoir, debut author and cartoonist Graybeal writes about her life living with chronic pain and her childhood diagnosis of the rare genetic connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Coming to terms with her condition, she also found herself at age 10 with no treatment options, a lack of parental support from divorced parents, and the struggle to adapt and live in a world that does not accommodate her needs. The book details her time living in Canada with her wife, her wife's own mysterious health issues, and the author learning many years later about health options that were available to help her. Throughout the book, Graybeal weaves her story by alternating back and forth between the times of her childhood and her adulthood, which builds a sense of intrigue about events that are mentioned or foreshadowed and then revisited later. VERDICT This book is recommended for those interested in memoirs, connective tissue and cell disorders, and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and also for people living with disabilities.—Bridgette Whitt

Library Journal