All in the Family

by Courtney LeBlanc

Courtney LeBlanc's second chapbook, All in the Family, is a collection of poems that delves into the nuances of relationships within families: good, bad, and truly ugly.

Courtney LeBlanc’s collection, All in the Family, may appear a pastoral still-life of a family, until you notice the author in the painting smirking, or flinching with pain. LeBlanc writes so specifically of her own family, yet this could be your family too. Full of churches and gardens, of death and blooming, LeBlanc writes “the sugar bites my teeth” — and that is exactly what this collection can do — fool you with its sweetness until you feel the old familiar rot of living.

—Megan Falley, author of After the Witch Hunt and Redhead and the Slaughter King (Write Bloody Publishing 2012 and 2014)

Courtney LeBlanc’s All in the Family gets at the heart of Midwestern stoic yet solidly loving farm family relationships like nothing else I’ve ever read. LeBlanc writes of sisters playing, “our father in the fields the whole time, / his skin baking in the sun like the mud pies / we made” and of a mother who “does the dishes, the laundry, / bakes bread and cookies. / Specializes in hotdishes and crockpot recipes.” Yet underneath, there is always the threat of what lurks both outside and inside, the tornadoes, the unexpected family storms. All in the Family is a brilliant collection that should live in our hearts and on our bookshelves. I only wish it were longer!

—Shaindel Beers, author of A Brief History of Time and The Children’s War and Other Poems (Salt Publishing 2008 and 2013)

A beautiful, moving collection. Courtney LeBlanc is a master of the stark line that leaves you reeling. In poem after poem, she tell stories in precise, unadorned statements that are heartbreaking in their simplicity. There are a lot of silences in these poems too—silences that carry as much weight and feeling as the words that interrupt them. The themes explored in the collection are universal: family relationships, illness, aging, distance, death. The poems are deeply personal, but their honesty is what makes them so powerful and relatable. The true gift LeBlanc has given us is that, by telling us about her family, she has allowed us to see some truths about our own families too.

—Adriana Cloud, author of Instructions for Building a Wind Chime (Poetry Society of America 2016)

Across these punchy, readable pages, LeBlanc concerns herself with family. The title of the collection—All in the Family—suggests a comfort and certainty that the poems then blow apart. These are poems that ask seemingly simple questions: Who do we count as family, and why? What are we willing to do for family? What are we willing to walk away from? But as each poem illustrates, these questions can prove difficult to answer, if not painful. Together, this collection represents a brave effort on LeBlanc's part, and a deeply worthwhile read for the rest of us.

—Jessica Young, author of Alice’s Sister (Turning Point 2013)

Genres: Poetry

31 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2016

About the author

Courtney LeBlanc is the author of the full-length collections Her Dark Everything; Her Whole Bright Life (winner of the Jack McCarthy Book Prize); Exquisite Bloody, Beating Heart; and Beautiful & Full of Monsters. She is the Arlington County Poet Laureate and the founder and editor-in-chief of Riot in Your Throat, an independent poetry press. She’s also the founder of the Poetry Coven, a monthly generative workshop she runs out of her home. She loves nail polish, tattoos, and a soy latte each morning. Find her online at www.courtneyleblanc.com.


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Reviews

[Shuly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in one sitting, which means I could easily see the overall arc that this chapbook took, which was rendered effectively. The profiles of each character were drawn as they related to the narrator. The language was beautiful, and I like that these poems tell stories--not all poems do that, but I especially like the poems that do. I also really like that these poems are accessible (again, not all poems are!). Nicely done.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

All In The Family by Courtney LeBlanc is a masterpiece of story telling in its shortest form, the poem. Her words reached deep into my heart touching the places where only memories of family reside. In a world where it seems everyone is opposing one another, Courtney’s works show just how much we all have in common. From planting and harvesting a family garden,and sibling relationships to learning to drive and suffering the loss of a parent. Courtney cuts down to the basic lives that we all share. If poetry were the language of the world Courtney would be a messenger of that peace. I look forward to reading more of her work in the future and was honored to have been able to read and review this one. For anyone who feels the need to get down to their basic emotions and away from the influence of all that is happening in our world today, to revisit those times of days gone by and live in those memories for just a moment, All In The Family is a must read.

[Jason Hull · Rating 5 out of 5]

I swear, it seems like I write the exact same review for every one of Ms. LeBlanc's books, but they are all excellent, and All in the Family continues along the vein of quick, but hard-hitting reads. She has redefined my sense of what poetry is and isn't. This isn't the stuff you learned about in high school, with its iambic pentameter and whatnot. I liken reading Ms. LeBlanc's poetry to graduating from the Keystone Light you drank when you were underaged and had to convince your friends to buy it for you to moving to craft beer or moving from wine coolers to Opus One wines. Her poems are what they should teach in college literature, or, better yet, when you reach the age of 30 and are better able to understand life's lessons. Get it, read it, and enjoy it, preferably with a glass of Opus One.

[Shaindel · Rating 5 out of 5]

My blurb:

Courtney LeBlanc’s All in the Family gets at the heart of Midwestern stoic yet solidly loving farm family relationships like nothing else I’ve ever read. LeBlanc writes of sisters playing, “our father in the fields the whole time, / his skin baking in the sun like the mud pies / we made” and of a mother who “does the dishes, the laundry, / bakes bread and cookies. / Specializes in hotdishes and crockpot recipes.” Yet underneath, there is always the threat of what lurks both outside and inside, the tornadoes, the unexpected family storms. All in the Family is a brilliant collection that should live in our hearts and on our bookshelves. I only wish it were longer!

—Shaindel Beers, author of A Brief History of Time and The Children’s War and Other Poems (Salt Publishing 2008 and 2013)

[Art · Rating 5 out of 5]

All in the Family is a commemoration of family: values, connections, and struggle. With this collection of poems Courtney balances a declaration of feelings for her family and tips that scale every which way. Powerfully, the poems recur the elements of hands & blood as a vehicle for everyone's individuality and also everyone's connection.

Courtney mixes her talents with this collection to create poems that are not only powerful but fun to read too. In this vein, The Game His Father Played and Drive are two of my favorites.

You can't always love them and you can't separate from them. You are family. And this is an honoring of that. Courtney does this well.

[Kyla Houbolt · Rating 4 out of 5]

All in the Family is fierce with truth. These poems appear in a chapbook that at first glance is plain as a potato -- appropriate for the Midwestern setting -- and then I notice the scrubbed out faces of the family portrait on the cover. Each poem is like that: at first seeming plain, no fancy footwork, but then the bone deep honesty slides through and by the end, I was finding tears, remembering my own (very different) father, mother, siblings. Love, the pain it can hide, blood and what it means and does not mean -- all are cut open for our view here. Making such honesty look so easy is a mark of genuine mastery. I highly recommend this small book of poems.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The poems here ring true, whether they are or not. They tell the stories hiding behind the windows of homes we know (perhaps our own); they are thick with the complications that prefer to stay hidden. The chapbook pulls the curtains away for us to see the way people and families come together and break apart. A good read. I look forward to her next book.

[Michael B Tager · Rating 5 out of 5]

The makeup of my family is entirely different from the one Courtney describes in this chapbook, from the top down. And yet, because the family is depicted so distinctly, in such poetic language (as befits a poet, I suppose), it feels universal. All the disappointment and love and fear and nostalgia wrapped up at the same time. Fantastic work.

[Kelly Grace Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a stunning, honest and intimate look at family and how those relationships shape and shift us. This is a book everyone needs to read from a poet to watch!

[Caitlyn OFlaherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like a farm, a family is constantly in flux. What is a promising crop or a fertile field one year may, the next, lie dead. An early frost, an infestation—the fruits of one’s labor are never guaranteed. In LeBlanc’s latest chap book All in the Family, we are given individual portraits of the members of her Midwestern family through the lens of her relationship with them. Though she narrates her story, she has little control over its characters. She is a child, believing there is magic in a mother’s touch; she is a grown writer, still doe-eyed and seeking approval. She is small and roughhousing with her young, vivacious father; she is a woman grasping at his remains as they literally slip through her fingers. She is an obedient girl, quietly entertaining her sister in church; she is an adult, whose name is inked on that same sister’s skin—evidence of the banshee screams and white knuckled hand holding that has brought them this far, together. In each case, LeBlanc provides illustrative vignettes that bring into stark relief both the pain of disappointment and the intimacy of a bond between siblings. Courtney writes confessionally, but not without authority. She reveals her story to us, but only once she’s learned to live it fully and unapologetically. She offers us what’s real and imperfect via a medium perfectly suited to such contrast and simple honesty. How lucky we are.

[Juliette · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I received a copy of Courtney LeBlanc’s All in the Family for review purposes. As always, this review reflects only my honest thoughts on the book.*

All in the Family is a portrait of just that–family. Moments between family members aren’t always tender and beautiful; that’s what makes these poems so incredibly powerful. Courtney’s poems consider Mother, Father, Sister, and Daughter in all their imperfection. These connections are intimate, the relationships ultimately personal, and yet the reader is pulled into this family’s midst. They, too, can feel these family ties–binding and, at times, suffocating–and inevitably think of those of their own.

*full review on Pencils & Pages*
https://juliettesebock.com/all-in-the...

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

All families are complex and this collection tackles those complications and poignant frailties head on. There is a bittersweet sentiment surrounding Courtney LeBlanc's memoir-esque poetry collection in All In The Family that leaves you indescribably vulnerable. You will feel as though you've walked the hallowed halls of an evolving farmhouse, glanced at photos, saw ghosts of this idyllic childhood, and left knowing you'll never be the same again. LeBlanc's latest poetry collection is deeply reflective of a child becoming woman among the backdrop of dynamics that are simultaneously unique and universal. A fantastic read! I can't wait for her next one!

[Mike]

What is a family? I think that's the question that's at the heart of this collection of poems, and it's not easy to answer. Like anything real, family is complex, and that's a truth that Courtney LeBlanc reckons with in these poems. Life and relationships in webs, strung together with all the little joys and hurts and pettinesses and tendernesses that are a part of being with other people. Trauma, regret, and redemption; sweet at times without being saccharine; dark at times, but never oppressive. Worth your time, I'd say.

[Marlena Chertock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Courtney's voice is strong and witty. She unflinchingly explores family life, delving into difficult relationships with parents, and how siblings grow close. A powerful collection.