Let me just say that I'm someone who, not all that long ago, lost someone whom I loved dearly, and who loved me in return, to cancer. And I've been damaged ever since.
And I thought this was an hysterically funny story, for which I am very thankful. I loved the fact the malignancy is not such much malevolent in the classic sense of the word, but rather is just a complete asshole (pun intended). Tasteless, self-centered, and no sense of decency. It would be like having an obnoxious frat-boy jammed up your ass.
(though I do what to say that a lot of the *melodramatic* Dying or Dead Loved One stories run here and on Escape Pod recently have NOT been so welcomed by me...)
So, Jim, thank you (we read Libromancer in our book club, and are going to read the Stepsister Scheme)!!!
And the full contact karate cast reading... Oh my. Excellent, but a special blue ribbon to M.K. as Scaramouche. She's always good with the villainous... or villainously sarcastic.
Then there's the final icing on the cake, getting Norm freakin' Sherman to read as Pooh and Satan..... *kiss* Beautiful!!!!