It Wasn't Meant to Be Perfect: A Memoir
It Wasn't Meant to Be Perfect: A Memoir

Gaelynn Lea

It Wasn't Meant to Be Perfect: A Memoir

€24.99 €31.25 RRP
20% Off
SKU: 9781643756431

This item is available for PRE-ORDER only and will not be dispatched until official release date.
Please note: Regular and Pre-order items cannot be purchased at the same time. These will need to be ordered separately.

Release Date: 30-04-2026
Quantity:
Free, fast & tracked delivery over €10 Free, fast & tracked delivery over €10
Ireland's best value books. Why pay more? Ireland's best value books. Why pay more?
Same great price online and in-store Same great price online and in-store
Proudly Irish and family-run since 1989 Proudly Irish and family-run since 1989

Gaelynn Lea was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta. Her parents were loving, cash-strapped theater kids, and she grew up racing about in her first electric wheelchair, having adventures with her siblings, and handing out playbills at her parents' dinner theater shows. Transfixed by an orchestra performance in 5th grade, Gaelynn was determined to play the cello. When her shortened limbs made playing the instrument challenging, she employed a familiar tactic: adapting. What if she held a violin upright in her wheelchair, like the world's tiniest cello? That what if was the key that unlocked her lifelong music career.

After winning NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concert in 2016, Lea became a full-time touring musician-and that's when she began to truly struggle with the inaccessibility of the music world. Out of necessity, she became a dedicated advocate and activist, pushing back against the prevailing stereotypes, assumptions, and barriers with her own gently defiant style. Lea's warm, funny, deeply-felt memoir addresses love and faith, sexuality and mortality, the frustration and the joy of difference. She shows how disability inspires and enables unique and indispensable contributions to the world, and reminds readers to think creatively, fight for what they love, and savor the journey.