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It Wasn't Meant to Be Perfect
A Memoir
Author: Gaelynn Lea
Narrator: Gaelynn Lea
Unabridged: 10 hr 12 min
Format: Digital Audiobook Download
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Published: 04/14/2026
Categories: Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Memoirs, Music, Folk & Traditional, Music & Musicians
Synopsis
Folk musician, Broadway composer, and disability advocate Gaelynn Lea's warm, funny, poignant memoir is a love letter to every kind of body, to music, and to making it work––inviting us to embrace all of life's experiences with heart and determination. Read by the author and featuring original music.
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.
"I loved recording the audiobook of IT WASN'T MEANT TO BE PERFECT myself, as the author, because I was able to convey the emotion of the scenes in a way that will hopefully feel genuine to disabled people listening, as it's my authentic experiences I am sharing. Also, I had so much fun digging through my musical repertoire to put the perfect snippets of music underneath several of the scenes and during chapter transitions. People who are familiar with my music should enjoy these little Easter eggs, and for anyone who hasn't listened I think it will be a fun way to be introduced to the tunes! Recording the audiobook was a totally different experience than writing the book but it was really rewarding and I can't wait for people to hear it!” - Gaelynn Lea
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.
"I loved recording the audiobook of IT WASN'T MEANT TO BE PERFECT myself, as the author, because I was able to convey the emotion of the scenes in a way that will hopefully feel genuine to disabled people listening, as it's my authentic experiences I am sharing. Also, I had so much fun digging through my musical repertoire to put the perfect snippets of music underneath several of the scenes and during chapter transitions. People who are familiar with my music should enjoy these little Easter eggs, and for anyone who hasn't listened I think it will be a fun way to be introduced to the tunes! Recording the audiobook was a totally different experience than writing the book but it was really rewarding and I can't wait for people to hear it!” - Gaelynn Lea
