In “The Devoured Life”, Olivier Martinelli, novelist from Sète, recounts the continuation of his fight against myeloma, his cancer

Olivier Martinelli avec son nouvel ouvrage, La vie dévorée. Midi Libre – PHILIPPE MALRIC

La vie dévorée, de l'auteur sétois Olivier Martinelli, regroupe l'ensemble de ses chroniques de son combat contre son cancer, le myélome.

This is the continuation of the fight of the superhero Olivier Martinelli which has just been published. There was his first work – which had done very well – L&amp ;#39;honeyman, bringing together his chronicles, his thoughts, his doubts and his hopes in his fight against myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow. On this subject, he said nicely "my cancer is written myeloma and I can't help but think honey-man. It seems softer to me, therefore, less aggressive. He makes me feel like a Marvel hero. I am the Honey Man.

The Honey Man and his sequel

A few years, and a change of publisher later, the novelist – the only Sète to be published nationally – proposes in La vie dévorée, beautiful double meaning between his desire to devour life and that of his illness devouring his bones, all of his chronicles. Those enriched by the &amp ;#39;Honeyman and the news collected in a part entitled Honeymoon. &amp ;quot;I'm not doing this out of calculation after the success of the first book", he slips. "But telling this is not therapy, but almost, for me".

A deeply poetic work

The novelist evokes sketches, special moments like participating in "the smallest rave party in the world", stuck in the MRI tube with headphones playing "hardcore techno that splits your brain with an axe", or his now aversion to marrow bones in restaurants. It is a book of doubts, questions but also, and above all, full of hope. Of the will to fight, to hold on to the slightest particle of life, of joy, of smiles. A hymn to life. A deeply poetic work. Olivier Martinelli has, moreover, recorded an album – "I realized a youthful fantasy" says the one who loves to surround his novels with rock songs – based on his texts. All he needs now is to find a distributor.

If he can touch people and do them good

"If, as with the first book, this work can touch people and do them good, I will be delighted", confides the novelist. The first responses from the public will certainly set a trend. Its first meeting is scheduled for Saturday March 23 at the BHV du Marais in Paris. Fingers crossed.

The devoured life of Olivier Martinelli, from Kubik Editions, 198 p, 15 € I subscribe to read more