All His Breakable Things - by Jiordan Castle (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"There's another version of this story where I drain the past, rouge my cheeks with its blood, make a dead thing live," writes Jiordan Castle. She vividly details a life marked by her father's mental illness and incarceration. Even in the dark of the familial prison experience, Castle charms with a glowing mix of candor, compassion, and humor. This debut poetry chapbook takes us to the brink and delivers us back to ourselves--and to the familiar hope we all carry inside.

Review Quotes

"These poems are fresh as morning sunlight and excitedly alive. At the same time, they are haunted by the emotional weight of a father in prison, and of the resulting conflict between light and darkness that is, quite naturally, unresolved. Still, the poems are tender with neither sentimentality nor condemnation. Their search for answers is hard edged, and without a trace of pathos. Beyond sorrow, the poet's eyes are on 'a heaven I can touch: my dog on the couch, his warm body crushed against mine.' And in touching the 'heaven' of her earth, she heeds the call of her art and achieves this compelling chapbook."

--Grace Schulman, Recipient of the Frost Medal and author of Strange Paradise: Portrait of a Marriage

"Sometimes life gives you lemons, and sometimes life gives you a father in prison. Jiordan Castle can make lemonade out of both."

--Joey Comeau, Author of Malagash and the webcomic A Softer World