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A practicing psychologist and former marriage therapist unveils the role of parents, religion, children, illness and the emotional fiber of spouses on thetreacherous terrain of marriage. Red Canoe is a valuable tool for professionals and a must read for couples. ... Read more

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vulnerabilities as roadways to connections with others
In these poems, the poet is wounded, but does not, cannot heal. Handler is a psychologist as well, and also much involved in poetry organizations. The wounds are not definable or familiar psychological wounds. They have to do with more than the mind or even particular situation or experience; though they are exposed usually in the context of marriage and its ties and incidents.

The style of the poems is not confessional, nor complaining. The poet does not plumb for roots or causes. The wounds are an inherent part of being alive. Not attenuated however feebly by hope, recrimination, or reason, they bring the poet extraordinary power of observation, sometimes unerring and painful in itself; but sympathy too, for herself as well as others. Often keenly aware of herself and at times seeing her circumstances and feelings like a plight, sometimes momentarily angry from the irrationality of it all, Handler nevertheless sees her wounds as vulnerabilities and a type of openness which connect her to others in her life.

Incredibly Gifted Writer
I am not your "typical poetry person" but this collection from Cusack Handler is awesome. It is extremely reader friendly and filled with amazing imagery that takes us through the story of her marriage.She holds nothing back and digs into private spaces that most of us would fear to go. It rivets the reader like a novel and sweeps you along the turbulance that comprises so many relationships that are too meaningful to leave but sometimes seem too painful to work through. I also read her book ,"Glorious", which is very different but equally powerful. ... Read more

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Joan Handler's poems speak of the transmigration of a woman from an emotionally stifled girlhood through the first tentative steps of self-discovery, to, finally, the apostasy of womanhood and the ecstasy that everyday rebellion can bring. Handler undertakes daring experiments with form, shifting and thrusting words to underscore the power of the emotions in her words. Words dance on the pages of Glorious. The poetry is at once lyrical and colloquial in its language, almost narrative in its appeal. ... Read more

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Truly a force of nature
This is Joan Cusack Handler's first published book of poetry, though many of her poems have been published individually.This is a GLORIOUS book that takes you into the poet's private world with amazing honesty and bravery.Her words and images blaze across the page leaving the reader both exhilerated and exhausted at the same time. What a wonderful debut for Ms. Handler and how lucky for her readers.You must buy this book.

A WISE AND VISIONARY WORK OF ART
Joan Handler's collection of poems GLOrious is a kind of bildungsroman in which a woman discovers her spiritual strengths, but only after learning and unlearning the influence of her early experiences.In the opening poem, Pageant of Rages, a woman and her mother-in-law stand in front of New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine "spitting hate/ feeling grateful /and loving each other for it."Understanding the euphoria that comes from expressing oneself fully - even one's rage - the woman says, "It is pure genius and a running away of the heart that frees us."Here is the central theme - the life force - of Handler's daring work.

As a good Catholic girl, this same woman (for these poems follow a narrative thrust as the main character moves through time) has consumed - and been consumed by - Church doctrines, among them: "Thou shalt NOT be angry."She has tried so hard not to be bad but she feels like a sinner.At twelve, she still wets the bed, making her, in her own eyes, dirty: "She drags around shame like a dirty old pee stained blanket." At 6 feet, 2 inches, "barely thirteen and/ tall /as a Woman, but/she has no breasts/two peas on an ironing board!"No wonder "she dreams of hiding."Handler manages to create a character both specific and universal.I grew up short and Jewish yet identify with her plight.

When eventually the woman begins to confront her demons and deities - fear, pain, God, the rigidity of her upbringing, her flawed relationship with her body - she does not look away; she does not flinch.These poems are often brutally honestly, sometimes surreal, always full of passion.The narrative models a life lived audaciously.I admire Handler's determination, her insistence, really, on taking the hard, truer path and this intense psychological quest is what gives the book its largesse of spirit.The varied visual shapes of these poems reflect the complexity of the challenges with which she grapples. Yet her work is lucid; she writes with unusual grace and finesse.

I love the finale.No longer hiding, the woman has moved past the legacy of restriction and shame, beyond anger, thus claiming her authentic self and a haven in the world. Unlike the first poem, Pageant of Rages, in which two women hurl insults at each other, now joy and freedom are expressed in images of beauty and acceptance: the sea, the woods, a new comfort in relation to God and family. In the Mirror/At the Beach is a wildly imaginative fantasy in which two female characters, a woman and her angel, turn into winged creatures.As they rise above the white caps of the sea, transcendence, Handler seems to be saying, is within reach.
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The Reader was co-sponsored and co-conceived by CavanKerry and LaurelBooks partner, The Arnold P.Gold Foundation for Humanism in Medicine. Publisher Joan Cusack Handler and Gold Foundation President and CEO Sandra Gold observed that patients, while waiting to learn about their physical health, typically are provided only pop culture magazines--perhaps entertaining but without the solace and comfort that literature provides. The Waiting Room Reader was designed to address that need by bringing fine and accessible writing to "keep the patients company."Here are uplifting and inspiring poems that focus on life's gifts - everyday pleasures: love and family, food and home, work and play, dreams and the earth. This collection, originally offered only to hospitals and physicians' waiting rooms, was received with great success and is now available to a wider audience. ... Read more

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Chapters: Gabriel Byrne, Claire King, Joan Brosnan Walsh, Marc Bannerman, Cyril Cusack, Jonathan Ryan, Joe Mckinney, Eamon Morrissey, Anna Manahan, Mario Rosenstock, Alan Stanford, Mick Lally, Tom Hickey, Shereen Martineau, John Cowley, Keith Duffy, David Kelly, Enda Oates, Marie Kean, Niall Tóibín, Jon Kenny, Gavin Ó Fearraigh, Joe Lynch, Tony O'callaghan, Victor Burke, Joan O'hara, Alan Devine, Kate Thompson, Carmel Mcsharry, Tony Doyle, Bryan Murray, Colm Ó Maonlaí. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 109. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Gabriel James Byrne (Irish: ; born May 12, 1950) is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, and audiobook narrator. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined Londons Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen début came in the Irish soap opera The Riordans and the spin-off show Bracken. The actor has now starred in over 35 feature films, such as The Usual Suspects, Miller's Crossing and Stigmata, in addition to writing two. Byrne's producing credits include the Academy Award-nominated In the Name of the Father. Currently, he is receiving much critical acclaim for his role as Dr. Paul Weston in the HBO drama In Treatment. Byrne, the first of six children, was born in Crumlin, Dublin, Ireland, the son of a cooper and soldier, Dan, and a hospital nurse from Galway, Eileen (née Gannon). His siblings are Donal, Thomas, Breda, and Margaret. Another, Marian, died at a young age. Byrne was raised Catholic and educated by the Irish Christian Brothers. About his early training to become a priest, he said in an interview, "I spent five years in the seminary and I suppose it was assumed that one had a vocation. I realised subsequently that I didn't." He attended University College Dublin, where he studied archaeology and lin...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=235306 ... Read more

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Volume of poetry and prose published by Bucknell University. ... Read more

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A beautifully photographed large format trade paperback showcasing the talents of several illustrators' 3-D work in a variety of media. ... Read more