Lessons in Taxidermy
Published on 21. March 2007
Book
Paperback/Softback
176 pages
978-0-7538-2250-0 (ISBN)
Description
Diagnosed with cancer at age twelve and perilously pregnant at eighteen, surviving surgeries and violent accidents: sometimes you can't believe Bee Lavender is still alive; sometimes you think nothing could kill her. Bee Lavender holds nothing back as she recounts her life spent in and out of hospitals and her subsequent dissociation from her own body and emotions. She struggles with health problems from birth, which are compounded by her surroundings, including frequent encounters with street fights, domestic violence and poverty. Her voice is as strong as the front she puts up for the multitude of doctors she sees, and it's hard not to be in awe of what one fragile human being can withstand in the course of such a short lifetime. Her strength and sheer determination to live make this striking book completely engrossing.
Reviews / Votes
'The delightfully named Bee Lavender's Lessons in Taxidermy details a childhood plagued by a series of cancers and disabilities of mysterious origin...[it's the] sparse elegant language and the acceptance of larger, unexplainable forces in her life that gives this memoir its power...Her powerful, elegant memoir should be read by everyone who has ever praised anything from Dave Pelzer industry, as an example of what truly well-written and unflinching self-examination can be like.' -- Kate Bevan SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'This is a well-written, thought provoking book. Difficult at times to read, but equally difficult to put down.' NEW BOOKS MAG (March / April) 'an incredible tale of survival.' -- Shari Low DAILY RECORDMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Orion Publishing Co
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
180 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7538-2250-0 (9780753822500)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Bee Lavender is a writer, editor, publisher and activist. After living in the Pacific Northwest in the States for thirty-three years she moved to the UK where her office is a canal boat moored on the River Cam. More information about Bee is available on her website www.foment.net.