A review by foggy_rosamund
Don't Kill the Birthday Girl: Tales from an Allergic Life by Sandra Beasley

3.0

A clearly written, thoroughly researched account of the history of allergies in the US. Beasley suffered from severe allergies from birth, reacting struggle to such staples as milk, dairy, and beef, and ending up experiencing anaphylaxis many times. It's a harrowing but humorous account of struggling to find food and have a normal life when even a tiny amount of dairy can make you very very ill. I also appreciate that Beasley clearly spent a lot of time researching this subject, and her account is very informative. However, I wanted her to go into a bit more depth philosophically and emotionally: What is it like for people who are so aware how close they are to death all the time? What impact does it have on your understanding of the world? She didn't really touch on these subjects, which for me meant the memoir lacked some depth.