This Book Will Change Your Life - Sadly Beautiful by the Jason Fisk and Abigail Cashman.

There was this moment as we read Sadly Beautiful by the Jason Fisk and Abigail Cashman when we realized we had something stuck in our eye, some irritant, which seemed to be nothing of much import until we realized that in the most cliche way possible that which was stuck in our eye was sadness, and the act of feeling both terribly moved and full of love. It's an odd to read a book that captures such intense feelings of love - and yes, loss - by someone you know, when you don't quite know them like that, but also when you feel love for that person as well. Because we do feel love for Jason Fisk, as an author certainly, and for his work, and we have always been especially partial to his poetry - and in turn we couldn't be happier to see so much of it here, an oxymoron if there ever was one. We have always thought that there was a sadness that lingered there just below the surface, waiting to burst forth, if, and when prompted. Of course, maybe that is a projection, because we love Jason Fisk the person as well. He is funny and giving and attractive and great to drink with. He is a good friend, so full of love and grace, and yet there too, there's a sadness just below the surface, which may only serve to enhance the rest of it. Along with all of that - if that isn't enough - the subjective, the bias, the love, there is something else happening in this collection that should not be overlooked. So often we write, and read, about the act of grief, ruminations from just slightly afar, and removed from the act of loss, where there is some space, distance and understanding. Sadly Beautiful is something else though. It is the act of grief captured as it is happening, building and finding its way to, and then just beyond, the reason we feel grief at all. We ourselves don't know what it's like to lose a sibling, and we are thankful for that. We are thankful though that Jason, and by extension Abby, were willing to put this on paper. It's what love looks like, and loss, and by any measure sure to change your life.