A Grotesque Animal, Amy Lee Lillard
A Grotesque Animal, Amy Lee Lillard
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A Grotesque Animal

Author: Amy Lee Lillard

Narrator: Avery May

Unabridged: 5 hr 18 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/25/2025


Synopsis

At the age of forty-three, Amy Lee Lillard learned she was autistic. She learned she was part of a community of unseen women who fell through the gaps due to medical bias and social stereotypes.

A Grotesque Animal explores the making, unmaking, and making again of a woman with an undiagnosed disorder. How did a working-­class background and a deep-rooted Midwest culture of silence lead to hiding in plain sight for decades? How did sexuality and anger hide the roots of trauma among the women in her family? And what does it mean to be a queer, disabled, aging woman, a descendant of wild but tamed mothers and a survivor of the things patriarchy inflicts?

Through wide-ranging styles and a combination of personal storytelling and cultural analysis, Lillard dissects anger, sexuality, autistic masking, bodies, punk, and female annihilation to create a new picture of modern women.

Reviews

Goodreads review by V ❣️ on June 02, 2024

A stream of conscious confessional of Amy : a queer feminist, a punk rocker, a witch, a late diagnosed autistic woman. So much of this memoir resonated with me as a queer woman who was also diagnosed late with autism.(at age 23) I connected with her from the very beginning. I especially felt seen as......more

Goodreads review by Mish Mash on March 22, 2025

Amy’s memoir is deeply relatable as a queer, late-diagnosed autistic woman-- especially her reflections on masking and feeling “other.” I wished for more showing rather than telling, but I’m so grateful to have found this book. It was a powerful reminder that autistic women don’t need to change who......more

Goodreads review by Tara on April 03, 2025

A Grotesque Animal: A Memoir by Amy Lee Lillard Audio Version Overall Grade: A Information: A Writing/Organization: A- Narration: A- Best Aspect: A very raw and real memoire that will resonate with many women. Worst Aspect: I wish the author would have read it herself, but the narrator did a great job n......more

Goodreads review by Ashley on March 17, 2025

I really enjoyed this and identified with the large majority of it—almost creepily so. My diagnosis isn't the same, but it comes with a sense of misunderstanding and loneliness as well. And more often than not takes a long road to even get to. The way Amy Lee Lillard validated my concerns of being m......more

Goodreads review by Tori on March 18, 2025

A Grotesque Animal is such an intriguing genre blend- a truly unique and weird mix of memoir, nonfiction, fiction, poetry, stream of consciousness, and manifesto. Amy Lee Lillard anchors this memoir to her diagnosis with autism as a 40 year old woman. This is an extremely unique read and I found it......more