“The scary beauty of life is that cancer can be around the corner just as a Grammy nomination can be.”

Tig Notaro has been on my radar for the last few years, primarily because of the press her cancer diagnosis and Argo comedy performance received. However, prior to reading her memoir I didn’t realize that the cancer diagnosis was just the tip of the iceberg in the shit storm 2012 was for her.

First Notaro got painfully sick following a pneumonia diagnosis and, after a few hospital visits, was diagnosed with C.Diff, a life threatening infection caused by the removal of all the bacteria in your gut. After she finally got released from the hospital she received a phone call from her step father: her mother fell down at home and was brain dead. After dealing with the pain of losing her mother, still a bit weakened from the C. Diff, Notaro discovered a lump in her breast. The lump was breast cancer.

A few days after her cancer diagnosis Notaro opened her comedy performance with, “Good evening. Hello. I have cancer. How are you? Hi, how are you? Is everybody having a good time? I have cancer.”  Tig bravely shares her recovery process with her readers including her double mastectomy and decision not to have reconstructive surgery.

I listened to the audio book and I’m not sure if Tig’s deadpan style translates well to book reading; I’d suggest reading this one over listening to it!