Running from the Mirror: A Memoir

Just three days after he was born, Howard Shulman contracted an infection that devoured his nose, lips, lower eyelids, tear ducts, and palate. Abandoned at the hospital by his parents, he became a ward of New Jersey under the care of a state-employed surgeon who experimentally rebuilt his face.

Running from the Mirror is a poignant story of one man's struggle to survive against staggering odds and create a meaningful life for himself. With striking candor, Howard gives an unflinching account of growing up a bullied outcast, with no family to officially call his own. Relying on little more than street smarts and grit, he rises from dishwasher to successful entrepreneur. Along the way, a European actress, a schoolteacher, and a fiery Latina help transform his life.

Filled with heart-wrenching suffering as well as soul-lifting joy, Running from the Mirror is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.