CRYBABY
Cheryl E. Klein desperately wants a baby. She gets cancer instead.
As a self-described crybaby who sees the end of the world lurking around every corner, Cheryl has always relied on planning and hard work to reach her goals and avoid catastrophe. But when she finds her deepest wish for a baby dashed over and over — first by infertility, then by pregnancy loss, and finally by a life-threatening breast cancer diagnosis — her carefully structured life, marriage, friendships, and belief system crack apart.
Adding a detour through the fraught and fickle world of open adoption seems like the last thing she should do, but where she lacks control, she finds adventure.
Empathetic, candid, and refreshingly humorous, CRYBABY is the story of what happens when a failed perfectionist and successful hypochondriac is forced to make room in her life for grief and joy, fear and hope, all at the same time.
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What People Are Saying
“Crybaby depicts obstacles of the body, from miscarriage to cancer. Along the way, a triumph of the soul emerges.”
— Jessica Zucker, Ph.D., author of I Had a Miscarriage: A Memoir, a Movement
“I’m grateful to Cheryl Klein for being real about all the messy emotions tied to the strange and powerful desire for a child. I found myself rooting wildly for her—and for everyone daring to take on such a common human experience from their most uncommon queer lives.”
— Michelle Tea, author of Knocking Myself Up: A Memoir of My In/Fertility
“In this fiercely honest, sharply observed memoir diving into the tumult of relationships, living with cancer, infertility, longing, loss, and complicated hope, Cheryl E. Klein surfaces with insights bright and beautiful as sea glass.”
— Shira Spector, author of Red Rock Baby Candy
“Yes, this is a cancer story. Yes, this is also a meditation on the body, of its perceived astonishments and failures, of what it means to be a mother, a woman—a happy woman—in a swirl of expectation. But don't get it twisted: CRYBABY is a love story. Which means it is a story of perseverance, of understanding, of showing up—for oneself and for one another. Klein peers closely into all of it with such generosity, such clarity, that I felt my own body move with the turn of a page. I am so grateful for having read this book.”
— Miah Jeffra, author of The Violence Almanac
“A beautiful and rare act of storytelling that will make you feel less alone and will make you laugh. A gorgeous book!”
— Jen Pastiloff, author of On Being Human
“Cheryl E. Klein’s superpower is knowing herself. Reading Crybaby felt like hanging out with a very good friend.”
— Andrea Askowitz, author of My Miserable, Lonely, Lesbian Pregnancy
“Crybaby is a visceral roller coaster of love, unexpected health challenges (that would have broken most women), and a rocky road to motherhood.”
