One of the best books I have read this year, even though the year is young, is Cancer Vixen by Marisa Acocella Marchetto. In vibrant colors and strong lines that accent the "Sex and the City" tone, Marisa details every step of her discovery and treatment of breast cancer. She is eminently likeable and sympathetic. Readers will immediately be attracted to her humorous warmth and petrifying fear. Marisa starts her tale with the day she discovered a lump--only three weeks from her wedding day. She then flashes back to life BC (Before Cancer) as a single, fashionable cartoonist for the New Yorker who starts dating a bon vivant restaurateur. The artist's life, priorities and values change completely with the discovery of a lump. Marisa goes into detail regarding her many doctor visits, chemo treatments, insurance woes and wedding preparations, all with her trademark rueful humor and fashion sense.The pacing of this book is very quick. It is a memoir using the graphic medium to marvelous effect. The tone is poignant, hopeful, humorous, and heartrending by turns. The insightful drawings clearly and intelligently depict Marisa's emotions, her friends and family and the clinical yet comical way she views the medical professionals and procedures. A moving and inspiring story told in a wholly unique manner. Not just for cancer survivors and their loved ones, but for any fan of graphic literature.
