Synopses & Reviews
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?
Review
"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
Review
“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
Review
“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.
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 University and 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.