Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Casey Legler, author of her new memoir Godspeed, published this July by Atria Books an imprint of Simon and Schuster.

Casey is an artist, restaurateur, model and former Olympic swimmer. She is also a fascinating human being whose first book is startling, surprising and much more than what we think of as a memoir.

The backstory of Lesley’s life, as documented in her book is the fact that she was an Olympic swimmer for France who used and sold drugs, was an alcoholic, broke the world’s record in 1996 in practice then came in 23rd in the finals of the event. She was the First Ford Agency model to wear men’s clothes exclusively.

What I want to add to this, much of which you may have already heard on TV, Meghan Kelly, other interviews is that this book is lyrical, it is poetic. It uses language in a way that one seldom if ever encounters. The metaphors, the analogies are like shards of glass or iron filings or stabbings of the soul or mirrors that reelect the best and worst of who you think you are.

And with that somewhat tortured introduction, welcome Casey and thanks for joining us today.