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your dolly want to go for a ride?” 7 The implication of a possible abuse is obvious but Barry does not
elucidate further and the reader is left to guess whether such a traumatic event occurred. The
explanation on top the frame intensifies the ambiguity of the situation. The narrator comments “It
was the closest I could come to…. to…. I don’t remember.” 8 Was the man a stranger or somebody the
child knew? Does she choose to remain silent or does she not remember? Where and when did this
happen? Does her family know? What was their reaction if they knew that some unwanted incident
occurred? These questions are left unanswered. Despite all the objectionable events while growing
up, the narrator is able to build a life and career for herself at the end.
The last section “Lost and Found” depicts Barry’s development as a cartoonist. This section works
a short Kunstlerroman by bringing together all the different‐aged avatars she has depicted
throughout her book: the child, the young women and the mature cartoonist. The “outro” section
encourages the readers to draw and write about their own demons. Barry even presents the drawing
tools such as brushes, ink and plain paper with advices on where to purchase them. In other words,
by trying to recruit people to draw, she is encouraging the readers to face their demons, traumas or
issues they need to work through in their lives. In this sense, Barry is a missionary artist who desires
to exert her influence beyond the boundaries of her personal story.
Marisa Acocella Marchetto’s CancerVixen
Graphic breast cancer memoirs talk about the subject’s difficulty of dealing and accepting the
news of the diagnosed illness and the subsequent ordeals of treatment one has to bear, similar to
the narrative memoir tradition. Marisa Acocella Marchetto’s CancerVixen renders the narrator’s
experience and recovery through illustrated references of her medical treatments as well as her
accompanied feelings.
The drawings and maps of the disease in her narrative are subjective representations of how she
views the nature of her illness. These visuals present the medical practices, like CT scans and
chemotherapy sessions, and the invasive cancer cells or the nuisance of hospital performances. The
author uses double register while documenting her experience of undergoing mammograms,
biopsies and needles, bearing ongoing testing, changes of weight and nausea. On one hand, there is a
constant effort to explain the changes the body goes through as a result of medical intervention, on
the other hand, the emotional reaction of the subject is revealed, thus the connection of the breast
cancer to women’s gendered subjectivity, sexuality and self‐conception.
Marchetto uses bright colors in her illustrations with a cheerful attitude and humorous tone in
writing. The panels in the book are varied in size and shape. She uses several variations of different
sized panels, including half or full page drawings and includes actual photographs, the doctor’s
reports or the receipt of her meal. Details of her dresses and several of her designer shoes during her
chemotherapy sessions are also drawn in detail.
In his study Recovering Bodies: Illness, Disability and Life Writing Thomas Couser observes the
patterns in illness memoirs. For him, diagnosis is usually the first stage in cancer memoirs and thus
the subjects narrate their reaction to receiving the news officially. Couser maintains that,
Cancer diagnosis radically alters autobiographical perspective; every aspect of life
narrative—past, present, and the future—looks different. Diagnosis is inevitably followed
by the frantic trying out of various scenarios, the trying on of various roles. 9
Marisa already is a successful cartoonist full of aspirations when she is diagnosed with breast
cancer. She is also involved in a serious relationship with hopes of marriage to a famous restaurant
owner. When she hears the diagnosis over the phone she describes her reaction as “the exact second
I found out… the Electrolux of the universe sucked me into a black hole.” 10 But instead of mourning