Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch

I've read Ms. Yuknavitch's book The Chronology of Water, cover to cover, a dozen times. I am still reading it. And I will, most likely, return to it for inspiration and ideas, and out of sheer admiration, for the rest of my life. The book is extraordinary. -- Chuck Palahniuk.

This is not your mother's memoir. In The Chronology of Water, Lidia Yuknavitch expertly moves the reader through
issues of gender, sexuality, violence, and the family from the point of view of a lifelong swimmer turned artist. In writing that explores the nature of memoir itself, her story traces the effect of extreme grief on a young woman's developing sexuality that some define as untraditional because of her attraction to both men and women. Her emergence as a writer evolves at the same time and takes the narrator on a journey of addiction, self-destruction, and ultimately survival that finally comes in the shape of love and motherhood.

This book by Lidia Yuknavitch is recommended by Chuck Palahinuk, with an introduction by Chelsea Cain.