LEG by Greg Marshall

“Laugh-out-loud funny. Greg Marshall is one helluva storyteller . . . Bright, bold, and beautiful.” —ISAAC FITZGERALD, New York Times bestselling author of Dirtbag, Massachusetts

“A strange, smutty, hilarious, beautiful, compassionate, provoking, big-hearted, sharp-tongued, original, brilliant memoir. I hated to see it end.” ―ELIZABETH McCRACKEN, National Book Award finalist and author of The Hero of This Book

“Marshall is one of the most exciting new voices in non-fiction. I could get lost in his brilliant brain forever.” ―RYAN O’CONNELL, author of Just by Looking at Him

A hilarious and poignant memoir grappling with family, disability, and coming of age in two closets—as a gay man and as a man living with cerebral palsy

Greg Marshall’s early years were pretty bizarre. Rewind the VHS tapes (this is the nineties) and you’ll see a lopsided teenager limping across a high school stage, or in a wheelchair after leg surgeries, pondering why he’s crushing on half of the Utah Jazz. Add to this home video footage a mom clacking away at her newspaper column between chemos, a dad with ALS, and a cast of foulmouthed siblings. Fast forward the tape and you’ll find Marshall happily settled into his life as a gay man only to discover he’s been living in another closet his whole life: He has cerebral palsy, a diagnosis that has been kept from him since birth. (His parents always told him he just had "tight tendons" and left it at that.) Here, in the hot mess of it all, lies Greg Marshall’s wellspring of wit and wisdom.

Leg is an extraordinarily funny and insightful memoir from a daring new voice. Packed with outrageous stories of a singular childhood, it is also a unique examination of what it means to transform when there are parts of yourself you can’t change, a moving portrait of a family in crisis, and a tale of resilience of spirit. In Marshall’s deft hands, we see a story both personal and universal—of being young and wanting the world, even when the world doesn’t feel like yours to want.

PRAISE
“This hilarious and wholly unique memoir by Greg Marshall tackles many subjects: disability, family relationships, and coming out (twice). With signature wit and humor, Marshall takes material that could be morbid in the hands of a lesser writer, and dares his readers not to laugh. He knows he's had an unconventional life, but there's no self-pity here. Instead, he embraces the absurdity of it all and leans into it, making one hell of an entertaining book.”
 
Buzzfeed, Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Book of 2023
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“Smart and heartfelt … His honesty and clarity in writing about disability makes this debut one to watch.”
LitHub, Most Anticipated Books of 2023
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“Leg is a laugh-out-loud funny memoir that will hit you squarely in the heart and leave you with tears in your eyes. Tears of joy and tears of heartache, sure—but most of all tears of gratitude for this incredible tale of marvelous resilience, tremendous love, a larger-than-life family, and boner pills. Greg Marshall is one helluva storyteller, taking hilarity and emotional resonance and putting them in a paint mixer set to high until he creates an astonishingly bright, bold, and beautiful new color that is uniquely his own.” 
ISAAC FITZGERALD, New York Times bestselling author of Dirtbag, Massachusetts
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“Honestly, I don’t know how to describe Greg Marshall’s Leg—a strange, smutty, hilarious, beautiful, compassionate, provoking, big-hearted, sharp-tongued, original, brilliant memoir. It’s about a very particular coming-of-age that will nevertheless remind readers of what it is to be young and to want everything. Marshall’s Leg is sui generis. I hated to see it end.”
ELIZABETH McCRACKEN, National Book Award finalist and author of The Hero of This Book
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“Greg Marshall's Leg has all the ingredients of an addictive memoir. But what separates this book from the pack is Marshall’s rich and rare perspective navigating the world as a queer disabled person. Marshall delves into his unique life experiences to illustrate the all-too-relatable struggle to be your authentic self and he does it with unflinching honesty. He's one of the most exciting new voices in non-fiction. I could get lost in his brilliant brain forever.”
RYAN O’CONNELL, author of Just by Looking at Him
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“In the struggles of his body, his family, and his own exploration of his identities, Marshall finds a mirror and a prism for life in America now. This is a funny, smart, and loving memoir, and I learned perhaps more about myself reading Leg than I did about Marshall.”
ALEXANDER CHEE, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel
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"Greg Marshall's Leg is a generous gift to readers. Yes, it is a raw, brutally honest, and compassionate chronicle of discovery (both of the self and the surrounding world) but it is also one of the funniest books I've ever read."
CHLOÉ COOPER JONES, author of Easy Beauty
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“Greg Marshall’s Leg is the rare witty, tender, ebullient, wry, and raunchy memoir. Marshall is a natural storyteller, both disarmingly vulnerable and wickedly funny, and Leg is a beautiful, necessary book.”
LAUREN HOUGH, New York Times bestselling author of Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing
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“No one manages to make the specific as universal as Greg Marshall. Sharply observed with prose that explodes into your stomach, Leg captures a life of victories and struggles that never once tip into victimhood while showcasing a spirit like no other.”
BEN PHILIPPE, Author of Sure, I'll Be Your Black Friend
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“Greg Marshall’s moving memoir Leg is about finding strength in family support. . .  marked by humor; family bonds form its inspirational core . . . a powerful memoir about overcoming obstacles with one’s sense of humor intact.”
 
Foreword Reviews
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“Marshall’s debut book is laugh-out-loud-hilarious while simultaneously managing to be poignant and tender. At its core, it’s an examination of what it means to transform when there are parts of yourself you can’t change.”
 
District Fray
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Greg Marshall was raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. A National Endowment for the Arts Fellow in Prose, Marshall is a graduate of the Michener Center for Writers. His work has appeared in The Best American Essays and been supported by MacDowell and the Corporation of Yaddo. Leg is his first book.

Publication Date: June 13, 2023
Imprint: Abrams Press
Trim Size: 5 1⁄2 x 8 1⁄4
ISBN: 9781419763601
Page Count: 304
Rights: North America