The Story of My Tits

Hayden (Underwire) celebrates love, laughter, and life’s many ups and downs in this affecting memoir. From prepubescent anxiety to a climactic battle with cancer, her relationship to her breasts serves as a prism through which she chronicles her life. Her honesty is blistering: every panel is a densely inked peek into the gory details of womanhood, from breastfeeding to breast cancer. Post-surgery fluid draining, bathing without ripping one’s stitches, cesarean sections—no detail is spared. Her knack for dreamlike imagery is a delightful counterpoint to this frankness: her husband grows fangs when he is angry, a sentient songbird dispenses advice for dealing with life crises, lightning crackles around her mother-in-law as she reveals her own cancer diagnoses. It is this combination of surrealism and an unflinching commitment to candor that elevates this memoir beyond simple confessional into something truly moving. Hayden has created a heartfelt and often hilarious tribute to her life—and to the resilience of women everywhere. (Sept.)