In honor of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I'll be featuring people and products from pop culture that have to do with the disease — those who have beaten it, have been touched by it, or are working toward finding a cure.

Today's spotlight is on Cancer Vixen, the alternately hilarious and horrifying memoir by Marisa Acocella Marchetto, a cartoonist for Glamour and The New Yorker. She was leading a decidedly fabulous life — hot fiancé, successful artistic career, kicky shoes — when a breast cancer diagnosis cast doubt on everything.

Acocella Marchetto holds nothing back in this memoir, depicting her "everything's fine" face as a dopey smile, her mother ("(s)mother") as a lovable but annoying hypochondriac, her friends as well-meaning gossips who wanted nothing but the best for their friend, and her cancer cells as little green blobs giving her the finger. Cancer Vixen focuses on surviving a scary diagnosis, but it's also a story about love, friendship, success, and what happens when life suddenly throws up a roadblock you never saw coming. Like Kris Carr, the filmmaker behind the documentary Crazy Sexy Cancer, Acocella Marchetto has created something creative, entertaining, and wickedly funny out of a very dark experience — and that's truly an inspiration.

Want to check out Cancer Vixen for yourself? Amazon has a great price on the hardcover book, but you can also scroll through a digital version of the story over here.

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