Mom's Cancer - Hardcover

Fies, Brian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810958406 ISBN 13: 9780810958401

Publisher: Abrams, 2006

Synopsis

Each year, approximately 1.5 million people in the United States and Canada are diagnosed with cancer. This is one family’s story.

Winner of the 2005 Eisner Award in the category of Best Digital Comic for the original Web version, Mom’s Cancer is now available as a graphic novel. An honest, unflinching, and sometimes humorous look at the practical and emotional effect that serious illness can have on patients and their families, Mom’s Cancer is a story of hope—uniquely told in words and illustrations.

Brian Fies is a freelance journalist whose mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. As he and his two sisters struggled with the effects of her illness and her ongoing recovery from treatment, Brian processed the experience in his journal, which took the form of words and pictures.

The story that came to be known as “Mom’s Cancer” first gained notice on the internet. It was posted anonymously, with the intention of sharing information and insights gained from his family’s experience. Thanks to the words and illustrations of Brian Fies, readers have already responded that they were surprised and gratified to realize that they weren’t alone. Abrams Image is proud to bring this story to a whole new audience.

About this title

About the Author

Brian Fies is a freelance writer and artist who lives in northern California with his wife, twin teenage daughters, and three cats. In 2005, his original Web version of Mom's Cancer was nominated for the Eisner Award in the category Best Digital Comic. This is his first graphic novel.

From Publishers Weekly

D on't let the title put you off: collecting the Eisner Award–winning Web comic of the same name, this story is more about how a life-altering event affects an entire family than another Lifetime disease-of-the-week story. When freelance writer Fies finds out his mother has both lung cancer and a brain tumor, her attempts to fight the disease—including rounds of radiation and chemotherapy—pull her entire family into the struggle. Fies is gentle but honest in telling his story. He refrains from painting his mother as a saint, depicting her instead as someone getting through a horrible situation by refusing to acknowledge just how bad it is. Nor does he shy away from the more complicated emotions his mother's health generates, including a sometimes heated rivalry with his two sisters (knowledgeable "Nurse Sis" and empathetic "Kid Sis"). Fies is most compelling when he finds insight in small details unique to his mother's experience, such as the strength she draws from a leather purse her father made while confined in a tuberculosis sanitarium. The clean, simple comic-strip quality of Fies's art fits the story perfectly, highlighting the gravity of the situation while cutting away undue sentimentality. Mom's Cancer is a quiet, courageous account of one family's response to a universal situation. (Apr.)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Abrams
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0810958406
• ISBN 13: 9780810958401
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128