Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: To Lose the Madness: Field Notes on Trauma, Loss, and Radical Authenticity
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://lmbrowning.com/bio/
CITY: New Haven
STATE: CT
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
L.M. Browning
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
EDUCATION:University of London, associate’s degree, 2011; Harvard University Extension School, current student.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, poet, novelist, editor, and publisher. Homebound Publications, founder and publisher, 2011—; Owl House Books, founder, 2015; Little Bound Books, founder, 2017. Art’s Cafe Mystic, member of board; Independent Book Publisher’s Association, member of board.
MEMBER:International League of Conservation Writers (fellow); Radical Authenticity Community (a storytellers’ community), founder.
AWARDS:Nautilus Gold Medal for Poetry; Pushcart Prize nomination (four times).
WRITINGS
Contributor to magazines and periodicals, including Rhode Island Monthly, New Haven Magazine, Coastal Connecticut Magazine, and Edible Nutmeg. Wayfarer magazine, founder and editor-in-chief.
SIDELIGHTS
Leslie M. Browning is a writer, poet, novelist, editor, and publisher. “In her writing, Browning explores the confluence of the natural landscape and the interior landscape. She is a convergence of her New England roots and the wide-sky, high-desert of the Southwest, where her heart is most at peace,” commented a writer on the Leslie M. Browning website. She is the founder of the publishing Homebound Publications and its imprints Owl House Books and Little Bound Books. The company has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Nautilus Book Award, Benjamin Franklin Book Award, and Saltire Literary Award, as well as the INDIE Award from Foreword Reviews. Since opening in 2011, the publisher has produced some seventy-five titles. Browning is also a freelance writer and interviewer, contributing to periodicals such as Rhode Island Monthly, Coastal Connecticut Monthly, and New Haven Magazine.
To Lose the Madness
To Lose the Madness: Field Notes on Trauma, Loss, and Radical Authenticity is Browning’s memoir of a difficult period in her life. “In this career-defining work, Browning explores the breaking point every mind has after finding her own limit during a gauntlet of traumatic events,” commented the writer on the Leslie M. Browning website. Over a harrowing period of time, Browning endured the dissolution of a long-term relationship after experiencing a miscarriage. Her physical health deteriorated, brought on by the need for abdominal surgery and by an accident that left her with a severely fractured leg. She experienced the effects of long-present psychological disorders that were exacerbated and not properly treated. In the midst of the physical and psychological turmoil, Browning’s friend Mallory helped keep her stable. Eventually, intervened and suggested a rejuvenating trip to the western United States and the majestic Sangre de Cristo Mountains. There, Browning reports, she experienced the healing that can only be found in a natural landscape among friends who care.
“Browning’s journey of recovery will be of help to anyone looking for courage in difficult times,” commented a Publishers Weekly writer. Kristine Morris, writing in Foreword Reviews, concluded, “Taking us into her inner world, Browning calls us to feel our own pain, and through it, carve a way to acceptance.
Fleeting Moments of Fierce Clarity and The Castoff Children
Fleeting Moments of Fierce Clarity: Journal of a New England Poet, another of Browning’s nonfiction works, presents an account of the author’s travels throughout the Northeastern United States and New England. She describes her home area in Connecticut, encounters the turmoil and rushing energy of a big city in Boston, and feels the quiet peace of nature in Rhode Island and at Walden Pond. These experiences help Browning achieve the clarity that she seeks about herself and the world around her.
In her novel The Castoff Children, Browning tells the story of a group of unwanted children who band together for their own protection and survival in post-Civil War era Boston. The eleven children, headed by fourteen-year-old Joseph, struggle to keep themselves fed and sheltered during an especially bitter winter. At the same time, they try to understand how and why they have come to the situation they find themselves in, seeking answers to question about their past and grieving the life and loved ones they have lost. When Joseph becomes separated from his friends and trapped by excessive snowfall in an abandoned building, he experiences a vision in the depths of a high fever and near starvation. With this vision as his guiding force, Joseph recovers and sets out to improve the lives of himself and his friends, giving them hope they so desperately need.
Browning is also the author of several volumes of poetry. Ruminations at Twilight: Poetry Exploring the Sacred. The Barren Plain: Poetry Exploring the Modern Wasteland, and Oak Wise: Poetry Exploring an Ecological Faith comprise a series of contemplative, inward-looking works. In Seasons of Contemplation: A Book of Midnight Meditations, Browning considers topics such as religion, ecology, the spiritual journey, and modern culture. In the Hands of the Immortal Weaver: Poems of Sacredness and Belonging finds the poet searching for, and finding, the divine in the many forms of nature that surround her.
BIOCRIT
BOOKS
Browning, Leslie M., To Lose the Madness: Field Notes on Trauma, Loss, and Radical Authenticity (memoir), Little Bound Books (Pawcatuck, CT), 2018.
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly February 12, 2018, review of To Lose the Madness, p. 74.
Small Press Bookwatch November, 2017, review of To Lose the Madness.
ONLINE
Foreword Review, https://www.forewordreviews.com (January 1, 2018), review of To Lose the Madness.
Homebound Publications website, http://www.homeboundpublications.com/ (July 29, 2018), biography of Leslie M. Browning.
Leslie M. Browning website, http://www.lmbrowning.com (July 29, 2018).
L.M. Browning
Founder & Publisher
(L.M.) Leslie M. Browning is the award-winning author of eleven titles. She grew up in the small fishing village of Stonington, Connecticut. In her writing, Browning explores the confluence of the natural landscape and the interior landscape. She is a convergence of her New England roots and the wide-sky, high-desert of the Southwest, where her heart is most at peace.
In 2010, Leslie debuted with a three-title contemplative poetry series: Ruminations at Twilight, Oak Wise, and The Barren Plain. These three books went on to garner several accolades including a total of 3 pushcart-prize nominations, the Nautilus Gold Medal for Poetry, and Foreword Reviews‘ Book of the Year Award. She followed this success with, Fleeting Moments of Fierce Clarity, which was named a finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Balancing her passion for writing with her love of learning, Leslie has sat on the Board of the Art’s Cafe Mystic, a poetic art’s venue that has run for 17 years in Mystic, Connecticut and has featured authors who are Poets Laureate of the U.S. and winners of the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and MacArthur “Genius Award.” She currently is a member of the Board of Directors for the Independent Book Publisher’s Association. With over 3,000 members, IBPA is the largest publishing trade association in the U.S. She is a graduate of the University of London and a Fellow with the International League of Conservation Writers.
In 2011, Browning opened Homebound Publications, one of the rising independent publishers in the country. Collectively through its imprints, Homebound Publications releases between fifteen to twenty books each year. The press has almost seventy-five titles distributed worldwide. Over the years, the library has received dozens of awards including: Foreword Reviews’ INDIE Awards, Nautilus Book Awards, Benjamin Franklin Book Awards, and Saltire Literary Awards. Highly-respected among bookstores, readers, and authors alike, Homebound Publications has a proven devotion to quality, originality, and integrity.
In 2015 went on to establish Owl House Books as an imprint of Homebound Publications devoted to genre fiction. In 2017 she founded Little Bound Books, an imprint of Homebound Publications devoted to short form. She is Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Wayfarer magazine.
Browning has freelanced for several publications including Rhode Island Monthly, New Haven Magazine, Coastal Connecticut Magazine, and Edible Nutmeg. Recognized for her in-depth profiles, as an interviewer, Browning is known for her genuine desire to connect with her subject and the insightful questions she composes to delve into the mind of those with whom she speaks. She has interviewed dozens of notable figures such as Academy Award-Nominated filmmaker Tomm Moore, Peabody-winning host of On BeingKrista Tippett, Emmy-winning Filmmaker Alan Cooke, the Standing Rock Water Protectors, and Sandy Hook mother Nelba Márquez-Greene.
Look for Leslie’s powerfully-vulnerable memoir, To Lose the Madness: Field Notes on Trauma, Loss and Radical Authenticity. In this career-defining work, Browning explores the breaking point every mind has after finding her own limit during a gauntlet of traumatic events. Pulled out of this blast-crater moment in her life by a friend, she is brought away from the insanity and deep into the snowy Sangre de Cristo Mountains where, standing in front of a herd of wild buffalo, she comes face to face with the terms we all must come to surrounding the loss we face in this life. Offering no answers and seeking no pity, Browning lays herself bare in this radically authentic offering. She carries restricted subjects such as miscarriage, mental illness, and suicide out of the silence by offering her own private journey as an example of the power of transcendence.
In early 2018, following the release of To Lose the Madness and the TEDx Talk she presented at Yale University’s TEDx Conference based on her own journey with successive trauma and search for transcendence, Browning founded the RadicalAuthenticity.Community website, a community of storytellers who, by sharing our own journey with emotional struggle, help to normalize mental illness and dispel the stigma surrounding it. She is currently working to complete a B.A. in Creative Writing with a double minor in Journalism and Psychology at Harvard University’s Extension School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
(L.M.) Leslie M. Browning is the award-winning author of eleven titles. She grew up in the small fishing village of Stonington, Connecticut. In her writing, Browning explores the confluence of the natural landscape and the interior landscape. She is a convergence of her New England roots and the wide-sky, high-desert of the Southwest, where her heart is most at peace.
In 2010, Leslie debuted with a three-title contemplative poetry series: Ruminations at Twilight, Oak Wise, and The Barren Plain. These three books went on to garner several accolades including a total of 3 pushcart-prize nominations, the Nautilus Gold Medal for Poetry, and Foreword Reviews‘ Book of the Year Award. She followed this success with, Fleeting Moments of Fierce Clarity, which was named a finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Balancing her passion for writing with her love of learning, Leslie has sat on the Board of the Art’s Cafe Mystic, a poetic art’s venue that has run for 17 years in Mystic, Connecticut and has featured authors who are Poets Laureate of the U.S. and winners of the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and MacArthur “Genius Award.” She currently is a member of the Board of Directors for the Independent Book Publisher’s Association. With over 3,000 members, IBPA is the largest publishing trade association in the U.S. She is a graduate of the University of London and a Fellow with the International League of Conservation Writers.
In 2011, Browning opened Homebound Publications, one of the rising independent publishers in the country. Collectively through its imprints, Homebound Publications releases between fifteen to twenty books each year. The press has almost seventy-five titles distributed worldwide. Over the years, the library has received dozens of awards including: Foreword Reviews’ INDIE Awards, Nautilus Book Awards, Benjamin Franklin Book Awards, and Saltire Literary Awards. Highly-respected among bookstores, readers, and authors alike, Homebound Publications has a proven devotion to quality, originality, and integrity.
“Homebound Publications is a small press with big ideas. As an independent publisher, we strive to ensure, that the mainstream is not the only stream. It is our intention at Homebound Publications to preserve contemplative storytelling. We publish full-length introspective works of creative non-fiction, travel writing, poetry, and novels. In all our titles, our intention is to introduce new perspectives that directly aid humankind in the trials we face at present as a global village.”
In 2015 went on to establish Owl House Books as an imprint of Homebound Publications devoted to genre fiction. In 2017 she founded Little Bound Books, an imprint of Homebound Publications devoted to short form. She is Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Wayfarer magazine.
Browning has freelanced for several publications including Rhode Island Monthly, New Haven Magazine, Coastal Connecticut Magazine, and Edible Nutmeg. Recognized for her in-depth profiles, as an interviewer, Browning is known for her genuine desire to connect with her subject and the insightful questions she composes to delve into the mind of those with whom she speaks. She has interviewed dozens of notable figures such as Academy Award-Nominated filmmaker Tomm Moore, Peabody-winning host of On Being Krista Tippett, Emmy-winning Filmmaker Alan Cooke, the Standing Rock Water Protectors, and Sandy Hook mother Nelba Márquez-Greene.
Look for Leslie’s powerfully-vulnerable memoir, To Lose the Madness: Field Notes on Trauma, Loss and Radical Authenticity. In this career-defining work, Browning explores the breaking point every mind has after finding her own limit during a gauntlet of traumatic events. Pulled out of this blast-crater moment in her life by a friend, she is brought away from the insanity and deep into the snowy Sangre de Cristo Mountains where, standing in front of a herd of wild buffalo, she comes face to face with the terms we all must come to surrounding the loss we face in this life. Offering no answers and seeking no pity, Browning lays herself bare in this radically authentic offering. She carries restricted subjects such as miscarriage, mental illness, and suicide out of the silence by offering her own private journey as an example of the power of transcendence.
In early 2018, following the release of To Lose the Madness and the TEDx Talk she presented at Yale University’s TEDx Conference based on her own journey with successive trauma and search for transcendence, Browning founded the RadicalAuthenticity.Community website, a community of storytellers who, by sharing our own journey with emotional struggle, help to normalize mental illness and dispel the stigma surrounding it. She is currently working to complete a B.A. in Creative Writing with a double minor in Journalism and Psychology at Harvard University’s Extension School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Leslie M. Browning
Founder & Publisher at Homebound Publications
New Haven, Connecticut
Publishing
Current
Homebound Publications, Little Bound Books, Owl House Books
Education
Harvard Extension School
Websites
Personal Website
Company Website
Leslie M. Browning’s Activity
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Oscar-Nominated Cartoon Saloon, Angelina Jolie Pitt Team...
International sales agent and financier WestEnd Films has teamed up once again with Irish studio...
Experience
Founder and Publisher
Homebound Publications
April 2011 – Present (7 years 4 months)Stonington, Connecticut
Founder
Little Bound Books
January 2018 – Present (7 months)New Haven, CT
Founder and Publisher
Owl House Books
May 2015 – Present (3 years 3 months)Stonington, Connecticut
Author: L.M. Browning
Author
June 2000 – Present (18 years 2 months)
Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Wayfarer
Homebound Publications
April 2012 – Present (6 years 4 months)Stonington, CT
Education
Harvard Extension School
Harvard Extension School
Bachelor of Liberal Arts (B.L.A)
2017 – 2020
University of London
University of London
Associate's degree
2009 – 2011
Volunteer Experience & Causes
Causes Leslie M. cares about:
Animal Welfare
Arts and Culture
Civil Rights and Social Action
Environment
Human Rights
Poverty Alleviation
Skills & Endorsements
Join LinkedIn to see Leslie M.’s skills, endorsements, and full profile
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Publications
In the Hands of the Immortal Weaver
Homebound Publications
April 2015
In this her first spiritual collection since 2012, Browning returns to the spiritual conversation with this small unassuming collection In the Hands of the Immortal Weaver, proving that powerful things come in small packages. Harkening to the mystic poets, Browning once again leaves the structure of religion behind to set out into the wild in search of the divine. Weaving together imagery and insight, each poem imparts beauty but more importantly wisdom.
Authors:
Leslie M. Browning
Seasons of Contemplation
Homebound Publications
April 2015
In Seasons of Contemplation, Browning offers the reader humble yet impacting meditations on the topics of religion, connection, mindfulness, ecology, the spiritual journey, and the perils of modern culture. The ruminations gathered within these pages provide simple insights that help bring sense to the chaos and hustle of our daily life. Direct and unpretentious, Browning once again reminds us that “Becoming aware of the dearness in what might otherwise be regarded as mundane is the ultimate form of insight.”
Authors:
Leslie M. Browning
Vagabonds and Sundries: Poetic Remnants of Lives Past
Homebound Publications
September 2013
In this new collection, Browning bring us a poetical coming to terms, as she touches on topics such as emotional trauma, spiritual disillusionment, and lost love. It is a dirge of grief and empowerment, highlighting both sorrow as well as the spirit that remains even after all else has left us.
Authors:
Leslie M. Browning
Fleeting Moments of Fierce Clarity: Journal of a New England Poet
Homebound Publications
October 2012
Fleeting moments of fierce clarity are had when the confusion clears and the gray numbness that hangs about our senses draws back, allowing us to see the world and ourselves with sharp relief.
Follow author and New England native L.M. Browning in her wanderings across the Northeast, from the solitude of her home along the shore of Connecticut, to the rushing city streets of Boston, to the tall-pine landscape of Arcadia Park in Rhode Island to the quiet edges of Walden Pond.
Authors:
Leslie M. Browning, Ian Marshall (Foreword)
The Nameless Man: A Novel
Homebound Publications
December 2011
Traveling through the Holy Land, eighteen strangers are forced to take refuge in Jerusalem during a militant attack. Kept in close quarters in an abandoned building, over the course of four days this group of strangers begin a dialogue, discussing love and evil, religion and god; finding amongst their number a mysterious nameless man who poses a revolutionary perspective on these age-old questions. Journeying on his own pilgrimage as he attempts to come to terms with the violence, betrayal and condemnation of his past, this nameless man reluctantly steps forward to share the realizations he has gathered over the course of his borderless life, leaving those who listened forever changed by the radical transition of perspective his revelations bring about.
Authors:
Leslie M. Browning
The Barren Plain: Poetry Exploring the Modern Wasteland
Little Red Tree Publishing (2010)
December 2010
“Beware! These words are not for the faint of heart. The Barren Plain is the poetic equivalent of “taking the red pill,” in which the blissfully ignorant perceptions of the matrix of modernity evaporate before a painfully clear vision of the actual reality of our shared condition. L.M. Browning transcends the mere title of “writer” in this collection and restores to poetry a sense of the oracular; for it is in these pages one simultaneously encounters the pathology of material civilization, its wounds to the psyche of human and planet, yet also a possible path toward an earth-honoring spiritual civilization.”
—Frank L. Owen Jr., creator of Bodhiyatra Poetry
Authors:
Leslie M. Browning
Ruminations at Twilight: Poetry Exploring the Sacred
First Ed. Little Red Tree Publishing Second Ed. Homebound Publications
August 2010
Asserting that the sacred lives in what is ordinary and the Divine is found amongst the green of nature, the poems within Ruminations at Twilight bring a message of appreciation for the worth of what surrounds us. Relevant, insightful, candid and revealing, these verses give a unique perspective on the age-old questions. The story told takes place on an intimate scale yet at the same time a world-wide scale; for within this story of one individual's realization and redemption we are told that of all humanity's.
Authors:
Leslie M. Browning, J.K McDowell (Foreword)
Oak Wise: Poetry Exploring an Ecological Faith
First Ed. Little Red Tree Publishing (2010) Second Ed. Homebound Publications (2012)
April 2010
Oak Wise is a collection of Celtic-themed narrative poetry exploring the old wisdom of the Druidic and shamanic traditions. This collection is approachable to the curious seeker just beginning their exploration of ecological spirituality; while at the same time remains insightful to long-time path-walkers.
In Oak Wise Browning descends with the reader into an intimate account of one seeker reflecting on the biological mother [the earth] while communing with the ancestral consciousness to which we each are connected. This collection brilliantly reintroduces the ecological sensitivities of the old earth-based faiths; highlighting their relevance in this current age of environmental crisis.
Authors:
Leslie M. Browning, Emmy Winning Writer Alan Cooke (Foreword)
The Castoff Children
Homebound Publications - Forthcoming October 4, 2016
The year is 1880, the America Civil War has long since come to an end and the industrial revolution is beginning to build steam, overturning the old ways of home and hearth as it gains momentum. The world is attempting to pull itself out of a global depression, during which many crops failed and millions of people have perished. It is during this desperate hour, in the back alleys of the city, that a group of eleven castaway children come together to care for each other. Plagued by the unanswered questions surrounding their past and grief for loved ones lost, the children attempt to come to terms with the bitter truths that have defined their life thus far. Feeling forsaken, faced with prejudice, hostile gangs and in the hardest winter on record, the children find themselves on the ragged edge. Until a series of mysterious events begin taking place, making them feel that they are not as alone and helpless as they might have thought.
Separated from his friends during a week of successive blizzards, Joseph—the fourteen year old boy at the head of this family of outcasts—becomes snowbound in a condemned building while searching for one missing among their number. It is during his days beset in the basement of this building that Joseph, starved and feverish, experiences a vision of another life lived upon a rolling green land, spurring him to do something he hasn’t in a long time—believe that life could be more than mere survival. These surreal events culminating in the arrival of a good-hearted stranger who, while wounded himself by injustice and loss, brings renewed hope to these children who have dreamt of being loved.
Look for THE CASTOFF CHILDREN October 4, 2016 from Homebound Publications
Authors:
Leslie M. Browning
Started in 1998
INTERESTS
Favorite Books
Hermann Heese, Eric Sloane, Barry Lopez, Joanna Macy, Gary Snyder, David Abram, Mary Oliver, Rainer Maria Rilke, Cheryl Strayed, Jack Kerouac, Walt Whitman, and Henry David Thoreau.
Personal Interests
Writing, Reading, Independent Studies, Environmental Causes, Humanitarian Causes, Philosophy, Spirituality, Hiking, Travel/Pilgrimages, New England, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Folk Music, Art, Photography, Book Collector, Self-Sustaining Living, Cooking, Baking
CONTACT INFO
lesliembrowning@gmail.com
http://www.lmbrowning.com
@lmbrowningpoet
MORE INFO
Affiliation
International League of Conservationist Writers, IBPA Independent Book Publisher's Association, Arts Cafe Mystic
About
Award-winning author, speaker, and naturalist | www.lmbrowning.com
Biography
L.M. Browning is an award-winning author of eleven books. In her writing, Browning explores the confluence of the natural landscape and the interior landscape. ... See More
Awards
Pushcart Prize Nomination 2011 (Poetry)
Pushcart Prize Nomination 2012 (Fiction)
Made a Fellow in the International League of Conservationist Writers (2012)... See More
Gender
Female
Personal Information
Writer, Poet, Philosopher, Artist, Editor, Naturalist
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Leslie M. Browning
Leslie M. Browning
Northeastern Region, United States
L.M. BROWNING grew up in a small fishing village in Connecticut where she began writing at the age of 15.
Browning is a longtime student of Religion, Nature, and Philosophy as such these themes permeate this young writer’s work. Browning is the author of the three-title Contemplative Poetry Series Oak Wise: Poetry Exploring an Ecological Faith, Ruminations at Twilight: Poetry Exploring the Sacred and The Barren Plain: Poetry Exploring the Reality of the Modern Wasteland. In the Autumn of 2010 The Sacred (a selection from Ruminations at Twilight) was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Balancing her love of writing with her love of learning, she is currently working for a degree in Philosophy through The University of London External Programme; while simultaneously working as a Teacher of Special Education at a High School level. She is anticipating the release of her first full length novel, The Nameless Man, November 2011.
To Lose the Madness: Field Notes on Trauma, Loss, and Radical Authenticity
Publishers Weekly. 265.7 (Feb. 12, 2018): p74+.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
To Lose the Madness: Field Notes on Trauma, Loss, and Radical Authenticity
L.M. Browning. Homebound, $12 trade paper
(84p) ISBN 978-1-947003-90-3
In this spellbinding book, poet and novelist Browning (The Castoff Children) spares no detail in telling the story of her descent into profound grief as one loss piled upon another. The breakdown of her eight-year romantic relationship on the heels of her miscarriage is compounded by a tangle of health complications (abdominal surgery, a severely fractured leg) and a web of psychological disorders she waited years to have properly treated. Browning likens her attempt to heal after these events to "a search for God--something elusive, divine, and that may or may not exist." Her sometimes-depressing observations will ring true to anyone who has suffered a trauma. Though she never gives up hope, she takes a realistic approach to recovery, and her depiction of how she made her way through reveals all she suffered. Though small, this effective and plainspoken memoir is densely packed with tales of harrowing experiences (particularly her diagnosis with C-PTSD and treatment using eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing) that require emotional, intellectual, and spiritual investments on the part of the reader. Browning's journey of recovery will be of help to anyone looking for courage in difficult times. (Apr.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"To Lose the Madness: Field Notes on Trauma, Loss, and Radical Authenticity." Publishers Weekly, 12 Feb. 2018, p. 74+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A528615553/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=14fa5d7c. Accessed 14 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A528615553
To Lose the Madness
Small Press Bookwatch. (Nov. 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Full Text:
To Lose the Madness
L. M. Browning
Little Bound Books
c/o Homebound Publications
PO Box 1442, Pawcatuck, CT 06379-1968
https://homeboundpublications.com/little-bound-books
9781947003903, $12.00, PB, 84pp, www.amazon.com
Synopsis: "To Lose the Madness: Field Notes on Trauma, Loss and Radical Authenticity" is a career-defining work by Leslie M. Browning that explores the breaking point every mind has after finding his or her own limit during a gauntlet of traumatic events.
Pulled out of this blast-crater moment in her life by a friend, Browning is brought away from the insanity and deep into the snowy Sangre de Cristo Mountains where, standing in front of a herd of wild buffalo, she comes face to face with the terms we all must come to surrounding the loss we face in this life.
Offering no answers and seeking no pity, Browning lays herself bare in this radically authentic offering. She carries restricted subjects such as miscarriage, mental illness, and suicide out of the silence by offering her own private journey as an example of the power of transcendence.
Critique: Impressively candid and articulate, extraordinarily honest and insightful, exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "To Lose the Madness: Field Notes on Trauma, Loss and Radical Authenticity" is an inherently compelling read from cover to cover. Thoughtful and thought-provoking from first page to last, "To Lose the Madness" is unreservedly recommended for personal reading lists, as well as community and academic library collections.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"To Lose the Madness." Small Press Bookwatch, Nov. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A520054888/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=4acaf7af. Accessed 14 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A520054888
To Lose the Madness
Field Notes on Trauma, Loss and Radical Authenticity
L. M. Browning
Homebound Publications (Apr 10, 2018)
Softcover $12.00 (84pp)
978-1-947003-90-3
Browning’s essay explores the confluence of natural and interior landscapes in a manner both beautiful and searing.
Two years of medical procedures, bouts of pneumonia, surgery to mend an unstable fracture followed by a year of relearning how to walk, and the effects of advanced endometriosis left L. M. Browning feeling violated, her body fragile. After miscarrying twins and ending the relationship with their father, she was reduced to a shadow of herself.
It was her friend Mallory who held her together as denial was breached and grief poured out, and it was Mallory who suggested that they drive out west to the majesty of wide horizons and the Milky Way in its unobstructed glory—a magic that helps the mind and heart soften and heal.
Their drive took them to the Taos home of Mallory’s friends, a simple place set on a “sparse hill.” Kind and welcoming, they offered Browning a spacious shower, a bed with crisp, fresh sheets, and a warm, heavy blanket. Their caring ways “bound like a bandage around my vagabond soul,” she writes. “I’d been living out of a bag since the miscarriage—evicted by the hand of circumstance from the life I’d had and still trying to find the place where I now belonged.”
In an essay that explores the confluence of natural and interior landscapes in a manner both beautiful and searing, Browning, an award-winning author and poet, seeks the strength to carry her losses and live the life she would now have to live, reckoning time as a counting of days that “would have been” in the lives of her twins.
Instead of a way to forget, the landscape of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains helped her find a way to bear the remembering, and in it to find peace and meaning. Taking us into her inner world, Browning calls us to feel our own pain, and through it, carve a way to acceptance.
Reviewed by Kristine Morris
January/February 2018