Golem Girl

A Memoir

By: Riva Lehrer

Narrated by: Riva Lehrer, Cassandra Campbell

The vividly told, gloriously illustrated memoir of an artist born with disabilities who searches for freedom and connection in a society afraid of strange bodies

“Golem Girl is luminous; a profound portrait of the artist as a young—and mature—woman; an unflinching social history of disability over the last six decades; and a hymn to life, love, family, and spirit.”—David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas

What do we sacrifice in the pursuit of normalcy? And what becomes possible when we embrace monstrosity? Can we envision a world that sees impossible creatures?

In 1958, amongst the children born with spina bifida is Riva Lehrer. At the time, most such children are not expected to survive. Her parents and doctors are determined to "fix" her, sending the message over and over again that she is broken. That she will never have a job, a romantic relationship, or an independent life. Enduring countless medical interventions, Riva tries her best to be a good girl and a good patient in the quest to be cured.

Everything changes when, as an adult, Riva is invited to join a group of artists, writers, and performers who are building Disability Culture. Their work is daring, edgy, funny, and dark—it rejects tropes that define disabled people as pathetic, frightening, or worthless. They insist that disability is an opportunity for creativity and resistance. Emboldened, Riva asks if she can paint their portraits—inventing an intimate and collaborative process that will transform the way she sees herself, others, and the world. Each portrait story begins to transform the myths she’s been told her whole life about her body, her sexuality, and other measures of normal.

Written with the vivid, cinematic prose of a visual artist, and the love and playfulness that defines all of Riva's work, Golem Girl is an extraordinary story of tenacity and creativity. With the author's magnificent portraits featured throughout, this memoir invites us to stretch ourselves toward a world where bodies flow between all possible forms of what it is to be human.

This audio production includes a PDF of illustrations and photographs from the book, which are also uniquely described aurally in the audiobook.

Priase for Golem Girl

“Lehrer’s story is a revelation of an inner subjective life—full of tragedy, love, and creativity—pushing against the external social stigmas, cultural narratives, and prejudices surrounding disability. She admits a felt kinship with other “monsters” because their bodies were also “built by human hands,” but unlike them, she is her own purpose, her own meaning, her own unstoppable golem.”—Stephen Asma, author of On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears

Critic reviews

“[A] penetrating and razor-witted debut . . . Brainy . . . sexy and soulful, Lehrer’s writing exhibits the force of will needed to make one’s way in a culture where, ‘If it’s medically possible to push a body toward that social ideal, then we make it a moral imperative to do so.’ . . . With vast ambition and the skill to match, Lehrer examines learning on every level—learning to live, to forgive, to create, to love, and to become a part of various communities: familial, queer, disabled and artistic.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“This searing personal history expands Lehrer’s project of looking at our bodies inside and out, in all their queerness, fragility, and strength, into a stunning new dimension.”—Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home

“Like Patti Smith and Sally Mann, Lehrer opens a vein and spills wisdom and humor, lyricism, and conviction onto the page. She teaches us with images and words that all bodies are exquisite, just as they are. Lehrer’s life and art is an example of the deepest creativity and resistance.”—Ayelet Waldman, author of A Really Good Day

“Riva Lehrer is a great artist and a great storyteller. This is a brilliant book, full of strangeness, beauty, and wonder.”—Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler’s Wife

“Vivid and unforgettable . . . It is the story of how someone who is fundamentally different made not a life that transcends that difference, but a life that lionizes it. This book expands our notion of what constitutes the human experience, and it does so with generosity and openheartedness.”—Andrew Solomon, author of Far From the Tree

“With deft painter’s prose, Riva Lehrer helps us discover what it is to be human when others see us as broken. In Golem Girl, Lehrer gives us the gift, at long last, of our own crip beauty.”—Nicola Griffith, author of Hild

“Lehrer’s story is a revelation of an inner subjective life—full of tragedy, love, and creativity—pushing against the external social stigmas, cultural narratives, and prejudices surrounding disability.”—Stephen Asma, author of On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears

“A wincing-wise tale, by turns harrowing and hilarious, cut clean through with flecks of grace and beauty.”—Lawrence Weschler, author of Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees

One of the best disability themed books I’ve ever read

What an amazing book. I sincerely hope you read this very important story of one woman’s full life with Spina Bifida.

Review of Golem Girl

This is an amazing memoir of a women born with severe Spina Bifida. She describes her life with amazing insight and very little self pity despite having undergone dozens of surgeries.
She is an accomplished and talented artist and teaches different art classes, even medical drawings to medical students.
I highly recommend this book.

This Book is Amazing on So Many Levels

This book describes enough life for five people. RIva Lehrer delves deeply into so many aspects and times of her life, it makes me feel like a slacker. The description of her childhood and education alone could be a book, as could her relationship with her parents, especially her mother. From there we go on to her many adventures, careers, loves, lovers, mishaps and disasters.. This book often seems to be written in prose. Ms. Lehrer never seems to taker herself too seriously, as evidenced by her chapter titles. She conveys an almost invincible attitude, without being too 'inspirational'. Life hits her again and again and again and she somehow keeps going. Listening to this is like watching someone climb one mountain only to encounter another a few feet ahead and then another...all which must be traversed just to keep going, in a matter-of-fact-don't-feel-sorry-for-me manner. I'd love to meet her!

a better reader was definitely needed

I'm not sure what to say about this book. If I wasn't reading it for a book club, I would not have picked it at all. Yet, the story had its moments of interest. I just wish the author hadn't decided to read it herself. I could tell there was humor and insight in the writing but it got lost in her monotone.

This is an incredible story of courage and beauty

Riva Lehrer is a remarkable, gifted, almost otherworldly artist, author, teacher and professor. Her poignant, powerful memoir makes me feel a kind of subtle understanding and profound respect for her journey from child to wise elder, and respected artist. So impressive. Every visual artist, every medical professional, every parent, child and aspiring maker should read this book. You will never look at art making (nor courage) in the same way,

Golem Girl is fabulous!

I highly recommend Golem Girl by Riva Lehrer, it is an amazing memoir.
About halfway through listening I knew I needed the hardback book to read, look at the art and give as gifts, so I ordered two from my local bookstore. I plan on ordering and giving more copies.
While listening/reading the word/image that kept coming to my mind was crystalline/crystal. Riva Lehrer’s writing/story/art/voice is so layered, so beautiful from so many angles and oh so sharp.