Cancer Vixen

"What happens when a shoe-crazy, lipstick-obsessed, pasta-slurping, fashion-fanatic, madly-in-love, about-to-get married, big-city-girl cartoonist with a fabulous life finds . . . a lump in her breast?" That's the question that sets this funny, powerful and poignant graphic memoir in motion. In vivid colour and with a taboo-breaking sense of humour, Marisa Marchetto tells the story of her 11-month, ultimately triumphant bout with breast cancer from diagnosis to cure, and every challenging step in between. ButCancer Vixenis about more than surviving an illness. It is a portrait of one woman's supercharged life in Manhattan, and a wonderful love story. Marisa, self-described "terminal bachelorette" meets her Prince Charming in Silvano, owner of the chic downtown trattoria Da Silvano. A month before their wedding, she receives her diagnosis. She wonders: How will he react to this news? How will my world change? Will I even survive? And . . . what about my hair? From raucousNew Yorkerstaff lunches and the star-studded crowd at Silvano's restaurant, to the rainbow pumps Marisa wears to chemotherapy,Cancer Vixenis a total original. Her wit and courage are an inspiration she's a cancer vixen, not its victim: "Cancer," she says, "I'm going to kick your butt! And I'm going to do it in killer four-inch heels!" From the Hardcover edition.

Marisa Acocella Marchetto lives in New York City and is a cartoonist for The New Yorker and Glamour, and her work has appeared in The New York Times and Modern Bride, among other publications. She is also the author of Just Who the Hell Is She Anyway?


From the Hardcover edition.