And This Was My Happy Ending
by Kevin Staniec
Published by ISM Quarterly
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Reviewed by Andrea Sisco
"When fate finds fiction, anything can happen...a story of love from a man's perspective."
Kevin Staniec is a teacher in the Creative Writing Conservatory at the Orange County High School of the Arts, an independent filmmaker, the editor/publisher of ISM Quarterly and author of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and screenplays.
Staniec has produced a probing, insightful and moving collection of thoughts, letters and photographs that impact your heart and mind in a sweet, yet raw piece on life and love. He reaches out and grabs the reader's attention with the simplicity of his ideas.
His entries are in the form of a timeline, often beginning with a word definition and continuing with his feelings at that particular time.
My favorite entry begins, "I was recently released from my job by reason of 'early retirement': on my twenty-seventh birthday. I considered it an involuntary career move." A letter written to him is touching because it was written after the writer left him and his response is a reflection of his deepest feelings.
Many other entries you will read and then return to and read more slowly the second time to allow the rhythm of the words and their meaning to seep into your heart and consciousness.
Armchair Interviews says: Even if you are not a fan of poetry, And This Was My Happy Ending will move you.
Check out www.ISMquarterly.com for information about ISM Quarterly and to purchase this stirring book.