Change Me Into Zeus's Daughter - by Barbara Robinette Moss (Paperback)

About the Book

Woven from humor, grief, love, and regret, Moss's memoir is the haunting story of a difficult and keenly felt life. Plagued by her family's poverty, her father's alcoholic abuse, and her painful awareness of her own malformed face, she is rescued by a life-giving appreciation for literature and art and a driving determination to achieve a life marked by beauty.

Book Synopsis

Change Me into Zeus's Daughter is a haunting and ultimately triumphant memoir about growing up poor and undaunted in the South. With an unflinching voice, Barbara Robinette Moss chronicles her family's chaotic, impoverished survival in the red-clay hills of Alabama. A wild-eyed, alcoholic father and a humble, heroic mother along with a shanty full of rambunctious brothers and sisters fill her life to the brim with stories that are gripping, tender, and funny.
Moss's early fascination with art coincides with her desire to transform her "twisted mummy face," which grew askew due to malnutrition and lack of medical care. Gazing at the stars on a clear Alabama night, she wishes to be the "goddess of beauty, much-loved daughter of Zeus." Against all odds, the image of herself surfaces at last as she learns to believe in the beauty she brings forth from inside.

Review Quotes

People A story of overcoming -- of a little girl who discovered moments of beauty within daily despair and managed to transcend the brutality to become a loving mother and wife and successful artist.

The New York Times Book Review Heartbreaking...we can't help being moved by the image of a damaged little girl looking up at the sky, trying to make sense of a world turned to shambles by the big folks.

USA Today Elegant and moving...nothing short of Angela's Ashes for Americans, beautifully written in the female voice.

About the Author

Barbara Robinette Moss, author of the acclaimed memoir Change Me into Zeus's Daughter, is a full-time artist and writer whose awards include the Gold Medal for Personal Essay in the William Faulkner Creative Writing Competition (1996), the Iowa Authors Award (2000), and the Alabama Authors Award (2002). She lives with her husband in Iowa City, Iow