9781890932053
Written by: McCauley, Barbara
Published by: Sherman Asher Publishing
Written by: McCauley, Barbara
Subject: Biography
Subject: Women
Subject: Suicide
Date of Publication: September 1998
Cover Type: Paperback
Written in: English
Number of Pages: 144
Book Size: 9.01x5.93x.43 in. .49 lbs.
Barbara McCauley is best known as a poet, an acclaimed and frequently collected painter, and as an Emmy winning writer. She taught English as a Second Language to adult immigrants for fourteen years in Los Angeles. For six years she taught composition to international students at the University of Minnesota, as well as continuing to teach poetry in nursing homes, at the YWCA, and through the Poetry in the Community program. McCauley received her B.A. in English from Albertus Magnus College. Review:
An eloquent, poignant and heartfelt books, shimmering, graceful passages about grappling with the shattering effects of suicide mingling memoir with musings, pain with joy, and despair with hope. (The New Mexican/ November 27, 1998)
Review:
In Small Mercies Barbara McCauley presents the fleeting moments of intimacy, the losses of the unspoken, the misunderstandings recognized too late of one sibling relationship and its aftermath Like life itself, this story and its telling produce no answers, no easy closure But the simple clarity of the words and the mystery of these events carry us forward, make it possible to go on. (William J Higginson, author of Haiku World)
Review:
(McCauley`s) compelling need to write and share this memoir acknowledges the communal nature of grief To grieve alone creates a hollow space where resentment and guilt reside, to do so stoically and righteously is worse. She writes, and even in her writing, doubts words, but goes on to lay down the words that create a passage from guilt to surrender. (Feministacom / May, 1999)
Review:
The writing is lucid and lyric, bringing the intensity of childhood and young adulthood to life McCauley observes with the trained eye of a painter and the ear of a poet. (New Mexico Magazine/Vol. 77/No. 9/September 1999)
Synopsis:
Memories of a shared childhood and family life alternate with short contemplations on the actual facts of a sister's suicide at age thirty. A meticulous and compassionate description of an American life, one small observable truth at a time without trying to explain, excuse, or provide easy answers.
Description:
Sisterhood, childhood, and facing the irreplaceable loss of a sister are at the core of this insightful memoir with its meticulous and compassionate description of an American life, one small observable truth at a time without trying to explain, excuse, or provide easy answers. McCauley`s exquisite writing, the difficult subject of sibling suicide, and a rare honesty that neither romanticizes or assigns blame combine to elevate this memoir to the rank of a classic.
