[A] penetrating and razor-witted debut . . . Brainy . . . sexy and soulful, Lehrer s writing exhibits the force of will needed to make one s way in a culture where, If it s medically possible to push a body toward that social ideal, then we make it a moral imperative to do so. . . . With vast ambition and the skill to match, Lehrer examines learning on every level learning to live, to forgive, to create, to love, and to become a part of various communities: familial, queer, disabled and artistic. . . . Packed with photographs of her own life as well as about fifty reproductions of her brilliant portraiture, this daring opus stands as a fittingly visual testament to the radical visibility she advocates as a teacher and a person a beautiful meditation on monstrousness, bodies and the souls they contain. Minneapolis StarTribune
This searing personal history expands Lehrer s project of looking at our bodies inside and out, in all their queerness, fragility, and strength, into a stunning new dimension. Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home
Like Patti Smith and Sally Mann, Lehrer opens a vein and spills wisdom and humor, lyricism, and conviction onto the page. She teaches us with images and words that all bodies are exquisite, just as they are. Lehrer s life and art is an example of the deepest creativity and resistance. Ayelet Waldman, author of A Really Good Day
Riva Lehrer is a great artist and a great storyteller. This is a brilliant book, full of strangeness, beauty, and wonder. Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler s Wife
Vivid and unforgettable . . . It is the story of how someone who is fundamentally different made not a life that transcends that difference, but a life that lionizes it. This book expands our notion of what constitutes the human experience, and it does so with generosity and openheartedness. Andrew Solomon, author of Far From the Tree
With deft painter s prose, Riva Lehrer helps us discover what it is to be human when others see us as broken. In Golem Girl, Lehrer gives us the gift, at long last, of our own crip beauty. Nicola Griffith, author of Hild
Lehrer s story is a revelation of an inner subjective life full of tragedy, love, and creativity pushing against the external social stigmas, cultural narratives, and prejudices surrounding disability. Stephen Asma, author of On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears
A wincing-wise tale, by turns harrowing and hilarious, cut clean through with flecks of grace and beauty. Lawrence Weschler, author of Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees
Riva Lehrer is an artist, writer, and curator whose work focuses on issues of physical identity and the socially challenged body. She is best known for representations of people with impairments, and those whose sexuality or gender identity have long been stigmatized. A longtime faculty member of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Riva Lehrer is currently an instructor in medical humanities at Northwestern University.
