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Marissa Moss

Last Things

Last Things is the true and intensely personal story of how one woman coped with the devastating effects of a catastrophic illness in her family.

Using her trademark mix of words and pictures to sharp effect, Marissa Moss presents the story of how she, her husband, and her three young sons struggled to maintain their sense of selves and wholeness as a family and how they continued on with everyday life when the earth shifted beneath their feet.

After returning home from a year abroad, Marissa’s husband, Harvey, was diagnosed with ALS. The disease progressed quickly, and Marissa was soon consumed with caring for Harvey while trying to keep life as normal as possible for her young children. ALS stole the man who was her husband, the father of her children, and her best friend in less than 7 months.

This is not a story about the redemptive power of a terminal illness. It is a story of resilience—of how a family managed to survive a terrible loss and grow in spite of it. Although it’s a sad story, it’s powerfully told and ultimately uplifting as a guide to strength and perseverance, to staying connected to those who matter most in the midst of a bleak upheaval. If you’ve ever wondered how you would cope with a dire diagnosis, this book can provide a powerful example of what it feels like and how to come through the darkness into the light.

PUBLISHER AND ACCOLADES

Conari Press, May 2017

 

  • Indies Pick
  • WNBA Great Reads Pick
  • Graphic Medicine Best of the Year Pick
  • Reviewed in Journal of American Medical Association
  • Selected as a text in medical schools, including Tufts Medical School

“Before reading Marissa Moss’ Last Things I was unaware of how profoundly moved I could be by a graphic novel. With her gentle touch and brave honest voice we experience how completely one’s life and expectations can be changed with a single devastating diagnosis. I absolutely loved Last Things!”
—Luisa Smith, Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA

“Powerful and beautiful—this book would be a great addition to the graphic novel canon.”
—Ian Lendler, author of The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents MacBeth

“An important book that needs to be in the world. It’s a hard read, but sometimes surviving and resilience is what makes people stronger. Ultimately that’s what Last Things celebrates, not dying, but strength, the strength our families give us.”
—Kathleen Caldwell, A Great Good Place for Books, Oakland, CA

“This is a very brave and beautifully drawn account. Anyone coping with the loss of a spouse is going to benefit—and any reader can relate to the family dynamics, the stress of caregiving, and the crisis of a terminal disease.”
—Eleanor Vincent, author of Swimming with Maya: A Mother’s Story

“I was swept into the story, swept along.”
—Joan Lester, author of Mama’s Child

“This is a very powerful story. It needs to be published (and I say that as someone who has no personal connection with ALS). It isn’t that it has to be published for other families who will go through this—it is a universal story of connection and separation and searching for reconnection after a loss.”
—Bill Boerman-Cornell, Professor of Education, Trinity College

SUBSIDIARY RIGHTS

Foreign

  • Chinese (simplified): Beijing Xiron Books