Customer Reviews

The Magic of the Mask

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One of the most moving and inspiring books I've ever read. A gifted and beautiful actress barely survives an automobile accident, only to be severely disfigured. The reader follows her as she attempts, against all odds, to have her face reconstructed and to make a very unique comeback. Whether you've ever wondered what it's really like to have a disfigurement, and to try to fix it, or if you or someone you know are dealing with one; whether you're simply looking for a `good (rather great!) read' or for something truely uplifting, I urge you to read "Magic of the Mask".

Louise Ashby is truly an amazing woman. In her early 20's, freshly arrived from London to pursue an acting career in Los Angeles, she is involved in a horrific automobile accident which leaves her face disfigured on the left side, and keeps doctors shaking their heads at how she made it through the accident at all. Just a year after the death of her beloved mother, Louise somehow finds the inner strength to endure the pain, grief, humiliation, loss and other unimaginable challenges on her 10-year journey to being "re-built."

For a woman whose face was, quite literally, her fortune, Louise Ashby could have sunken into depression and suicide following such a traumatic incident, but she doesn't. Ashby is a startlingly honest woman about her vanity, her failings, and also her determination to re-build the face back to the one that she had before. The journey is long, litigious, and excruciatingly painful. It is painful just to read the details of not only her brain surgery and subsequent re-constructive operations, but also to read of the humiliation she endures, ranging from a therapist who falls asleep during a session, to a wantonly cruel acting coach, and, simply, having the courage and tenacity to stick to her guns in a town that judges people completely on their appearance, when hers has been so radically changed.

I don't think Louise Ashby tries at all to paint herself as some sort of saint. She just seems to possess a natural courage and strength of spirit that drives her on toward her goals. She is fortunate, however, to be surrounded by a close-knit group of what appear to be wonderful friends. She is incredibly inspiring, unflinchingly honest, and, at times, painfully graphic and blunt. It is not an exaggeration to say that you feel the pain this woman endured, even if it is only a minute amount in comparison to what she actually went through. It is a difficult book to read in parts, but it leaves you with a tremendous sense of pride at what one woman, and, certainly, countless others go through, when fate alters a person's appearance in a society where the superficial is often valued above all else.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read true courage and dignity, and a journey toward reclaiming a life. It is a journey you will never forget.

After reading one of the reviews on amazon which seemed a personal attack on the author as opposed to simply critiquing the book, my interest was piqued. I found it to be a very encouraging book and was pleased to have bought it. I was initially buying the Michael J Fox memoir which was linked to this. I think Louise is couragous and the book was very well written. To me this book was about making others realize the possibities we can over come when having a positive attitude. This book isn't about her mother or her father as the past review led me to believe, it is about so much more so if you want something uplifting this is a must-read.

This book is a must for anyone who has gone through a crisis or accident. it gives you hope and motivation. you feel like you are her when you read her book. I highly recomend it.

I'm so saddened that people would write such reviews.

I read Louise' book and i doubt that any of the other reviewers actually have suffered from a trauma as extensive as Louise's- because if they had of they'd of been able to relate better and appreciate this book for what it truely is.. a gift.

I was shopping in a supermarket a few weeks ago and i saw Louise. Feeling a bit embarassed i watched her from a distance. I watched a women run over to Louise- moving closer i heard what was going on. The women visably had had a major accident - her face arm and legs showed extensive scaring. The women's family where standing around her as she hugged Louise and she said "I read you book, thank you. It made such a difference to my recovery, someone else had been through it and survived, your feelings, the detail - it helped all of us" The women was crying as was Louise. I am sure that Louise is someone you could hate, she has worked so darn hard to get a life together, shes a survivor and people find that threatening. What courage it must of taken to exercise the demons out in this book - she turned what was a tragic accident in to an honest working tool to help others.. i wonder if any of the other reviews have had the courage to do something like that in their own lives? One thing is for sure thou, Louise's story is a hard one. Read the book if you need to know that someone else out there is suffering, someone else out there cares. Louise's life isnt a bed of roses, i doubt that it has all turned out perfect- on going surgery will be required, extensive trauma therapy, she'll never be a big actress, her dream wont come true. She will struggle all her life as a result of this accident. Hear her voice, read her story and remember that it takes Louise's kind of honestly and courage to survive sometimes.

I read "Magic of the Mask" and was touched by Louise's story as I was also in a similar accident. I'd recommend it to anyone else who's also been through such a nightmare. It helps you to understand that your not alone and that determination and hope will help keep you going, taking life one day at a time. I'd also HIGHLY recommed it to the family, friends or loved one of someone who's been through an accident being disfigured in some way or another, as it helps you to understand what your loved one is going through both physically and emotionally. I know it can be difficult knowing what to say or do in such an uncomfortable situation. My heart and prayers go out to all, who's lives have been effected by such a tradegy.

I read this book to get more knowledge on how to help my daughter to the next level of her face reconstruction.

She was a victim of a 6 pound rock hitting her in the face while traveling as a passenger in a vehicle .

A dump truck on the highway not being responsible in cleaning in-between his dual tires before going out on the highway.

We completed her surgery's (19) after 15 years .

This book help with the final two surgery's and has given my daughter hope for the future.

I highly recommend this book, and I hope no one else has to deal with this type of tragic life event.

But if you do, this book could help you get through it.

After checking this book out at the library (thankfully I didn't waste my money on it) I read...and read...and read. Is it only me, or could I just not feel any sympathy for this woman? What pure fluff (I never made it through the entire book)! While her tragedy is one nobody would ever want to experience, it doesn't seemed to have changed her; all that remains is a rather large ego, and shallowness.

One reviewer mentioned the book 'I Am the Central Park Jogger'. Now there's a woman who the reader comes away respecting and loving!!!

As someone who has gone through a similar experience at a similar age. I expected from the book jacket blurb an informative read, however, it failed to deliver in several key areas: the protagonist fails to set her former life in any context, there are some ruminations on the loss of one parent and more vaguely on the abusive parenting of another family member. How much this steels or undermines her for her ordeal isn't shown to the reader; The book is written in a rather breathless style and would have definitely befited from a professional ghost writer to highlight and disentangle certain key events from the stream of recountal; The additional testimonies of friends fail to be illuminating, insightful or contrasting, being merely platitudinous and cliched, their redundancy making them unworthy of inclusion.
In the burgeoning books market of the journies of ordinary people overcoming extra-ordinary circumstances, there is room for a well written moving autobiography detailing the treatment and rehabilitation of trauma facial disfigurement. This vanity project is not it.

Thank you "Forgettable Memoir" for helping me get past the guilt and understand why I felt so put off by this vampirically egotistical book! "Ordinary" as well as humility is key here-that of which is what drew me into Central Park Jogger: Patricia Meili never toots her own horn, despite significant and exceptional achievements in her professional life; yet Ashby open up with "I have an attractively symmetrical face."!!
This emotional mastrubation is all about using technology to refuse to grow past her own superficial self-involved and honestly unpromising "career" when the accident would otherwise force her to be more than a mask. It's about suing for millions to badger and even emotionally blackmail doctors-despite all odds and realities-to build another mask. Hence her refusal to learn to do anything other than act to support herself. THIS is NOT growth-(evident in even her fathers pulling away when he can't fulfill her endless and insatiable needs for validation and "look at me look at me" attention-well many believe this egotism is why people get into acting anyway. As well as his clear discomfort & irritation w/her prompts to make him talk even more about HER for her book!) If trials, shock and disappointments catch us off balance to show us who we really are-then her essence and potential prove small and stunted indeed.
I suppose I shouldn't even dignify discussing the dustjacket! I don't mean to be cruel. But if I didn't know her mother had died, (Even when she talks about this-it's about her mother not giving HER enough attention and support!) I would wonder if said mother had written the blurb. I'd never heard of Louise Ashby (and I'm an anglophile!) "One of the most beautiful women"? In drama that's an impossible order! Even someone like Angelina Jolie who defies all anatomical odds and looks like a CGI fantasy, can joke about being a funny "moppet"! Again Ashby looks fairly "ordinary" (a word for her which is like water to the wicked witch!) before and after the accident. An ordinarily healthy girl on the street you wouldn't pick out of the crowd or remember. Something which in a memoir of this nature should be an EXTRAORDINARY asset not anathema. Hey Louise: Humility is what makes you strong, exceptional, and for the superficial like you, beautiful!