Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #123995 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Amazon.co.uk

Review
'I found this memoir enormously funny and perceptive, with the bonus of being lovely to look at!She draws an honest sadness, but she does so with humour and self-deprecating, the polar opposite of those ghastly tabloid 'my brave battle' cancer stories!as inspiring as those memoirs usually aim to be, but far funnier than most.' Stella Duffy, Guardian 'a terrific book!The book is brilliant for several reasons. First, the drawing, a more mainstream version of her pocket cartoon style is peerless with lovely bright colours, and moments of wonderful inventiveness!The storytelling is great too. I read it and I read it again a couple of days later and I'd recommend it to anyone whatever their state of health.' William Leith, Sunday Telegraph 'What's new about Marisa Acocella Marchetto' s Pop Art, chick-lit confessional is that she is a sassy if superficial "fashionista": cartoonist; celebrity wife-to be to a top restaurateur in New York's well-heeled high society: and uninsured when cancer strikes. Hers is the self-deprecating but defiant story of how her man, her (s)mother and her friends, family, faith and a passion for crafting these comics help her 'kick cancer in the butt!in five inch heels.' Daily Telegraph 'Astute and ab-fabulously uplifting -- whether you have experience of the big C or not you will want to read this in one sitting.' Metro 'Inspirational and entertaining.' Sainsbury's Magazine 'There are plenty of websites and books about breast cancer to keep you well informed (and terrified), but few are any fun. Not so Marisa Marchetto's graphic memoir, "Cancer Vixen"!There are important lessons about treatment options too.' Ariel Levy, The Scotsman 'Graphic novels might not normally be Heat's thing, but "Cancer Vixen" really is a must-read!!' Heat, 5 stars

Sunday Telegraph
'terrific...I read it and I read it again...I'd recommend it to
anyone whatever their state of health.'

Customer Reviews

Scary, life-affirming and funny (and scary, again)
Can't believe I'm the first to review this - I thought there'd be lots of rave reviews up already. I'm Dutch, I'm a man, I don't have cancer; and still this book by a New Yorker/Italian, a female cartoonist, with hopefully ex-cancer, has strong resonance. It's funny, it's honest, and as several of my friends have had (or have) breast cancer it is quite scary to see the symptoms laid bare. And the feelings, and the fears.... all familiar, all new. Keep on kicking against that bastard cancer, Ms Acocella, we need all the hope we can get - and you gave it well, with this book. Thank you.

Wonderful, warm and unexpectedly joyful
Marissa's the sort of woman I'd normally go out of my way to avoid, but how can you not warm to her after reading this? Cancer, it seems, can make human beings out of even the most self-absorbed people (and it doesn't always do so, so credit to the author for clearly having an abundance of self-deprecating humour and insight to begin with). I don't know what other work she's done, but this book will surely be a fine and lasting testament no matter what else survives. Beautifully drawn and movingly told, this is the exact opposite of miserable. By the end, you'll want to hug her, buy her glass of wine and tell her how wrong first impressions can be.

Make sure you don't buy the Italian version by mistake (unless you speak Italian, of course). Otherwise, just enjoy this marvellous book.

Funny and quirky
Marisa gets cancer and writes about it in a comic strip, including all the issues, ups and downs of her life as a cancer patient. It's interesting and funny and sad and you really do feel for her as the story progresses.

On my recommended for cancer patients list.