A stimulating, personal work about self-actualization in the wake of tragedy.
In this memoir and spiritual self-help book, a woman whose husband died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center tells of finding healing and inspiration.
In 2001, debut author Luckett and her husband, Teddy, were a couple in their early 40s with three young children, living in suburban New Jersey. Teddy commuted into Manhattan every day, working long hours at a high-pressure job on Wall Street to support his family, and Lisa was a stay-at-home mom. In this remembrance, she says that she felt that she was “drowning” in the isolation and constant stress of caring for an infant, a 4-year-old, and a 7-year-old. Although deeply in love with her husband, she says that she dealt with feelings of resentment, due to the frustrations of her current life and the pain and alienation of growing up with an alcoholic father and a narcissistic mother. Then Teddy became a victim of the disastrous events in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. At first overwhelmed by grief and anger, Luckett soon discovered another side to the trauma, which she dubbed the “Godness of 9/11”—a powerful spirit of human compassion and resilience. Buoyed by the “kindness of strangers,” as well as the help of two skilled therapists, she gradually learned how to help her family navigate the tragedy and find a new strength, joy, and positive direction in life. Luckett’s narrative skillfully weaves together events from different eras to present a vivid portrait of one American middle-class family’s life during the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s. She also delves into how pain and struggle can be hidden beneath a placid, public exterior. Luckett effectively uses her experience as a 9/11 widow to show how she left her victimhood and insecurity behind in order to make the most of the rest of her life. Her own choice to undergo four years of psychoanalysis may not be within some readers’ reach, but they’ll still find her unblinking self-exploration and honest evaluation of her life and choices to be compelling and heartening.
A stimulating, personal work about self-actualization in the wake of tragedy.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-73219-710-7
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Cozmeena Enlightened Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 14, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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