Nothing ignites appreciation for life quite like looking death in the eye. For these seven writers, earth-shattering cancer diagnoses forced them to contemplate life.
Cancer memoirs
‘Cancer Vixen: A True Story’ by Marisa Acocella Marchetto
“What happens when a shoe-crazy, lipstick-obsessed, wine-swilling, pasta-slurping, fashion-fanatic, about-to-get-married big-city girl cartoonist with a fabulous life finds … a lump in her breast?”
Marisa Acocella Marchetto chronicles her 11-month journey from diagnosis to remission with vivid comic book style in a graphic memoir. Her vivacious spirit transforms this tale into an authentic story of personal growth.
‘Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I've Loved’ by Kate Bowler
Kate Bowler believed in the prosperity gospel — a person’s fortune is a blessing from God, and any misfortune is a result of God’s disapproval. At age 35, her life appeared to be full of blessings, but then she was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer.
Now, facing her own mortality means reevaluating her long-held belief that “everything happens for a reason.”
‘When Breath Becomes Air’ by Paul Kalanithi
36-year-old Paul Kalanithi was nearly finished with his neurosurgical residency when he found himself in a hospital room as someone needing treatment, rather than someone providing it, and receiving a devastating stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis.
“When Breath Becomes Air,” a Pulitzer Prize finalist, follows Kalanithi as he transitions from doctor to patient, all while grappling with poignant, hard-hitting questions about life, death and purpose.
‘Killer Graces’ by Steve Melen
In 2008, Steve Melen had a successful career, a nice house and a newborn daughter he and his wife adored. As he eagerly prepared for the years ahead, a stage 3b stomach cancer diagnosis left him facing a cruel 15% survival rate, the odds stacked against any future Steve had envisioned for himself.
His memoir, “Killer Graces,” is more than just another cancer story. In the wake of stomach-removal surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, Melen faces addiction to painkillers, alcohol abuse and a crumbling marriage. Navigating these challenges will require Melen to both admit weakness and muster strength.
‘Shrinkage: Manhood, Marriage, and the Tumor That Tried to Kill Me’ by Bryan Bishop
Radio personality Bryan Bishop, known as “Bald Bryan” of “The Adam Carolla Show,” was at the height of his career when his doctors discovered an inoperable brain tumor. Faced with grueling chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Bishop found himself confronting his own mortality at age 30.
“Told in dude-style prose just waiting to be filmed by Judd Apatow,” notes The Washington Post, “Bishop writes powerfully about the frightening reality of his disease.”
‘Life is a Ride’ by Chris Joseph
Chris Joseph was diagnosed with stage 3 pancreatic cancer at 59, and after chemotherapy took its toll on his body and spirit, he decided he had had enough. Joseph fired his oncologist and, with no concrete plan, set off on an alternative path to recovery. He finds opportunities to improve not just his physical health but his spiritual health and the health of his relationships.
An inspirational tale that Joseph courageously penned himself — in more ways than one — his “thorough introspection of his years in cancer treatment is a rewarding examination of love, duty, legacy, and mortality,” writes BookLife.
‘The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Everything That Comes After’
Before the age of 3, Julie Yip-Williams had already survived a death sentence given by her grandmother and escaped Vietnam. By 2013, she is a 37-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer with a family and the most difficult years of her life seemingly behind her — until she’s diagnosed with terminal metastatic colon cancer.
“They say that ‘youth is wasted on the young,’” writes Yip-Williams, “I realize that health is wasted on the healthy, and life is wasted on the living.”
