Emily Rapp

A mother writes about her journey through grief after discovering that her only child was diagnosed with a rare, terminal degenerative disorder at nine months and how she made sense of her situation studying the works of great literature, philosophy and theology.

The Still Point of the Turning World

Emily Rapp was born with a birth defect that required, at the age of four, that her left foot be amputated. By the time she was eight she'd had dozens of operations and had lost her entire leg from just above the knee. She had also become the smiling, always perky, indefatigable poster child for the March of Dimes, and spent much of her childhood traveling around Wyoming making appearances and giving pep talks. All the while she was learning to live with what she later called "my grievous, irrevocable flaw." This is Rapp's brutally honest and often darkly humorous account of wrestling with the tyranny of self-image as a teenager and then ultimately coming to terms with her own body as a young woman. It's about what it's like to live inside a broken body in a society that values beauty above almost everything else.--From publisher description.

a memoir

Poster child

In an unflinching memoir, a young woman who grew up with a disability that forced the childhood amputation of her entire leg below the knee details her struggle to learn to live with the problem, her role as a poster child for the March of Dimes, dealing with her teenage self-image, and the ultimate coming to terms with her body in a society that values beauty. 50,000 first printing.

A Memoir

Poster Child

Mit neun Monaten wird bei Emily Rapps Sohn Ronan das Tay-Sachs-Syndrom festgestellt eine degenerative Krankheit, die unweigerlich zum Tod führt. Als Emily erfährt, dass ihr Sohn seinen dritten Geburtstag wahrscheinlich nicht erleben wird, beginnt sie zu schreiben: über Ronan und die wertvolle Zeit, die sie zusammen verbringen, über ihre Trauer und ihre Verzweiflung. Dabei entstanden ist ein emotionales und kluges Buch, was von der Suche nach Trost in einer ausweglosen Situation berichtet. Eindringlich und zutiefst berührend erzählt Emily Rapp davon, was es bedeutet, ein Kind zu lieben und zu verlieren.

Was mich das viel zu kurze Leben meines Sohnes lehrte

Versöhne Dein Herz

Emily Rapp was born with a congenital defect that required, at the age of four, that her left foot be amputated. By the time she was eight she'd had dozens of operations, had lost most of her leg, from just above the knee, and had become the smiling, indefatigable "poster child" for the March of Dimes. For years she made appearances at church suppers and rodeos, giving pep talks about how normal and happy she was. All the while she was learning to live with what she later described as "my grievous, irrevocable flaw," and the paradox that being extraordinary was the only way to be ordinary. Praise for Poster Child: "Rapp's precise and forthright descriptions of her exhausting physical ordeals and complex psychic wounds are simultaneously harrowing and fascinating, and they foster a strong bond between writer and reader...Rapp approaches the memoir as a supple, revelatory, involving and generous genre....She offers a fresh perspective on our obsession with physical perfection, especially the crushing expectations for women, and she writes delicately about the fears that disability engenders regarding intimacy and sex. Rapp's insider's view of the history of prostheses deepens our empathy and admiration for those who depend on artificial limbs, a growing population, once again, in yet another time of war and horrific injuries. Memoir, the conduit from the personal to the universal, is the surest way into the kind of significant psychological, sociological and spiritual truth Rapp is engaged in articulating. And there isn't one false note here. Not one inauthentic moment. No cheap manipulation. No self-importance...Her cauterizing specificity is compelling, her candor incandescent and her intelligence, courage and spiritual diligence stupendous."-Donna Seaman, Los Angeles Times "You can't put down this excellent memoir ...Poster Child beautifully illustrates every human being's sometimes overt, sometimes co

Als haar zoontje van negen maanden een doodvonnis krijgt, besluit Emily Rapp alles op te schrijven wat er gebeurt. Daarmee kan ze haar zoon Ronan niet redden, maar wellicht wel zichzelf. De centrale vraag: wat betekent ouderschap als je kind geen toekomst heeft, of beter: wat betekent ouderschap überhaupt? Iedereen roept maar dat we in het moment moeten leven: Rapp vecht om dat roerloze punt te bereiken waar ze vreugde kan vinden, simpelweg door haar kind lief te hebben. Haar hulpmiddelen: mythologie; poëzie en literatuur; filosofie en theologie, met name boeddhisme; haar eigen observatievermogen en eerlijkheid.

Het roerloze punt van de wentelende wereld

'A powerful memoir of love and loss, which are two sides of the same coin' - Julia Samuel, bestselling author of Grief Works and This Too Shall Pass 'A lyrical, deep, funny, eyes-wide-open, ultimately comforting book. I adored it, and - if you are searching for how to live in a broken world - so will you' - Lucy Kalanithi 'A book of rare power and grace... Reading this extraordinarily thoughtful writer and her luminous prose was, for me, sanctuary' - Will Schwalbe, New York Times bestselling author of The End of Your Life Book Club A searing memoir of a mother's love, the meaning of resilience and the possibilities of life after grief from the New York Times bestselling author of The Still Point of the Turning World. 'Congratulations on the resurrection of your life,' a colleague wrote to Emily Rapp Black when she announced the birth of her second child. The line made Emily pause. Her first child, Ronan, had died before he turned three years old from Tay-Sachs disease, an experience she wrote about in her first book, The Still Point of the Turning World. Since that time her life had changed utterly: she had left the marriage that fractured under the terrible weight of her son's illness, remarried the love of her life, had a flourishing career, and given birth to a healthy baby girl. But she rejected the idea that she was leaving her old life behind - that she had, in the manner of the mythical phoenix, risen from the ashes and been reborn into a new story, when she carried so much of her old story with her. More to the point, she wanted to carry it with her. Everyone she met told her she was resilient, strong, courageous in ways they didn't think they could be. But what did these words mean, really? Sanctuary is an attempt to unpack the various notions of resilience that we carry as a culture. Drawing on contemporary psychology, neurology, etymology, literature, art and self-help, Emily Rapp Black shows how we need a more complex understanding of this concept when applied to stories of loss and healing. Interwoven with lyrical, unforgettable personal vignettes from her life as a mother, wife, daughter, friend and teacher, Rapp Black creates a stunning tapestry that is full of wisdom and insight. 'Every once in a while, a book comes along that ushers us to the very center of a profound truth that we don't so much learn, as recognize. Emily Rapp takes us there in SANCTUARY' - Dani Shapiro, New York Times bestselling author of Inheritance 'An absolute marvel. As a writer, a mother, and woman, Black is a profound inspiration-not because she's fearless but because she's courageous. To understand the distinction, read this beautiful book.' -Bret Anthony Johnston, New York Times bestselling author of Remember Me Like This 'Not since When Breath Becomes Air has a memoir conveyed such profound loss, alongside such luminous and life-affirming love.' Adrienne Brodeur, author of Wild Game

Emily Rapp

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