Rocking the Pink: Finding Myself on the Other Side of Cancer

by Laura Roppé

Overview

In 2008, just as Laura Roppé was poised to burst onto the music scene, her doctor called her with news that left her spinning—she had been diagnosed with an extremely aggressive form of breast cancer. Just days earlier, she had signed a dream-come-true contract with a record label; now, she wasn’t even sure how much longer she had to live. Never one to back down to a challenge, however, Roppé gathered her courage, took stock of her priorities, and made a decision: Cancer may take my hair, she told herself, but that’s all it’s getting.

More than a cancer journey, Rocking the Pink is a quirky, charming, and poignant ode to love, friendship, and music. Roppé is unflinchingly honest and unfailingly funny as she tells the story of her odyssey: from childhood dreamer and giddy valet parker to the Hollywood stars to disillusioned lawyer, wife, and mother; from budding songwriter and late-blooming recording artist to determined cancer survivor. Full of raw emotion and humor that will make you laugh through your tears, Rocking the Pink is a chronicle of discovering one's true self through life’s difficult circumstances—and a testament to the hang-in-tough, take-no-prisoners attitude it takes to kick cancer’s butt.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580054546
Publisher:	Da Capo Press
Publication date:	02/28/2012
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	517 KB

About the Author

Laura Roppé is an award-winning singer-songwriter, cancer survivor, speaker, and former attorney from San Diego, California. She obtained a bachelor's degree in theater arts from UCLA, but then pursued the “family business”—she attended law school at the University of San Diego, where she graduated number two in her class, then went on to practice employment/business litigation for over a decade.

In 2008, the year of her diagnosis with triple negative breast cancer at age thirty-seven, Roppé ditched her legal career to follow her musical dreams in earnest. She won Song of the Year at the Los Angeles Music Awards in Hollywood in 2009. Upon the release of Roppé's second album, I’m Still Here, which Laura wrote during her chemo treatments, Billboard Magazine ranked her as third on its chart of the top fifty emerging artists in the world.

Roppé spends her time hanging out with her husband, two daughters, and dog, Buster, writing and singing, playing Bunco on the second Tuesday of each month with her girlfriends, and—last but not least—devising various schemes to get herself into the Copa Cabana.

Editorial Reviews

A UCLA-trained drama student turned corporate lawyer recounts her erratic, ultimately transcendent tale of being floored by breast cancer—only to reconnect to what really mattered to her. Roppé, a California native, was certain as a kid that Hollywood was in her future, even roping a brief but important speaking part as Girl One in Oliver Stone’s film The Doors—except that law school intervened, then a stressful career as a civil litigator, marriage and motherhood to two girls. By her mid-30s, Roppé had decided to join a rock band and start singing again, which segued into recording her own songs and making a full-length album with a vanity producer. Yet just as her single “Mama Needs a Girls’ Night Out” began to get some radio time, and she had signed a contract with a London-based record label, Roppé was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer called triple negative breast cancer, requiring an extensive round of chemotherapy and radiation. Looping back and forth in time, Roppé’s narrative can sometimes be flighty, but she makes up for it with enormous energy, humor, and unsinkable optimism. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Leaving behind a law career that didn't suit her inner rock star, 37-year-old Roppé (pronounced Ropay) had just signed a record deal in 2008 when the news came that she had triple-negative breast cancer, a rare and aggressive form that made both chemotherapy and radiation imperative. Her childhood dreams of being a professional singer came crashing to a halt. Chapters alternate between Roppé's discussion of cancer and retelling of her past, beginning when she first meets her future husband, Brad, at 14. Her take on life is irreverent, perhaps a bit too cutesy, but Roppé gets through treatment, buoyed by her own song lyrics, which she eventually cuts in vinyl (or silver disc) as her singer-songwriter career takes off and her cancer is vanquished—for the time being. VERDICT More inspirational treatise than disease chronicle, Roppé's book will give women assurance for getting through the worst life throws at them, be it illness or other kinds of loss. And though it might sound trite, Roppé does thank cancer, ultimately, for teaching her that "nothing is insurmountable." Not as cancer-specific as Geralyn Lucas's Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy, Roppé's title is recommended for people looking for a bit of hope.—Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal

Library Journal

A cancer diagnosis almost derails a woman's journey to rock stardom. After more than 10 years as a corporate lawyer, Roppé finally listened to her heart, quit her job and began making music in earnest. Her dreams were put on hold, however, when her doctor gave her a devastating diagnosis of breast cancer. With the support of her steadfast husband and two young daughters, Roppé resolved to do whatever it took to beat the cancer and take the stage once more. The author provides several interesting stories, including a particularly detailed account of her work as an extra on Oliver Stone's The Doors (1991), but many of her early anecdotes have little to do with either her burgeoning new career as a rock singer or her struggle as a cancer patient. For example, readers unclear on how to pronounce her last name will find several paragraphs discussing it. Even when directly discussing her cancer diagnosis, Roppé fails to adequately address how it temporarily derailed her musical aspirations. She is also quick to point out the positives in her situation, which can be inspiring, but she never explores the darker aspects of her battle. The later chapters begin with e-mails from her online buddy Jane, a fellow breast-cancer victim. Unfortunately for the author, Jane's e-mails about her life are more open and engaging than the majority of the author's narrative. Some readers may find hope from Roppé's successful battle with cancer, but her self-indulgent tone may leave unsatisfied.

Kirkus Reviews