This week Oni Press releases Memento Mori. The graphic memoir from Tiitu Takalo tells the story of the cartoonist’s recovery after she experienced a cerebral hemorrhage while in her 30s. With the memoir in bookstores and comic shops today, The Beat is pleased to present an exclusive excerpt of the book, which picks up in the immediate aftermath of the event.
Here’s how Oni Press describes Memento Mori:
A moving graphic memoir about life, art, and the search for happiness after surviving a cerebral hemorrhage at age thirty-eight.
In Memento Mori, celebrated Finnish graphic novelist Tiitu Takalo chronicles her sudden, unexpected cerebral hemorrhage and the long road to recovery she had to travel.
It is a dramatic story about a life turned upside down overnight: a ruptured cerebral aneurysm, the days and nights spent in an intensive care unit, and the long, painful recovery that led the artist to reflect on her life both past and present.
Much more than a story of survival, Memento Mori is a philosophical and psychological journey told with exceptional honesty and compassion. A deeply moving and insightful graphic novel from a master of the medium that is also ultimately a celebration of life.
Memento Mori was originally published in French in 2020 by Finnish publisher Werner Söderström OY. It’s the first release by Takalo from Oni Press, and the latest of her books to be translated into English. Previously another graphic memoir of Takalo’s, Mi, Mikko, and Annikki: A Community Love Story in a Finnish City, was released in English by North Atlantic Books in 2019.
Check out the exclusive five-page excerpt from Memento Mori now. The graphic novel is available in finer bookstores and comic shops today.
