Half in Shade: Family, Photography, and Fate - Softcover

"[Half in Shade] rewards a leisurely reading, with not only, as Kitchen promises, "patterns of American immigration and opportunities," but an experience that may open the eyes to the treasure chest of American experience found among those stepchildren of the arts-the snapshots. Kitchen's book lets you know what a keen eye coupled with an alert and sensitive intelligence can see." -Publishers Weekly "Kitchen's collaboration with the past serves as a reminder that we of the twenty-first century are neither the first nor the last to know heartbreak. Rather, we are simply one more snapshot in the collage of humanity-half-blurry proof that none of us are ever truly forgotten."-LA Review "Behind the beautiful language Kitchen employs and the poignant moments she unearths, it's the theme of life's instability that resonates most. . . . Using her imagination-and ours-Kitchen creates a testament to the veracity of art: sometimes the fiction is more real than the facts. More importantly, sometimes all the spectator needs to connect the dots is that uncanny sense of familiarity."-The Brooklyn Rail "Half in Shade [is] well worth the read. Together with the photographs, it offers an entertaining, quirky, and sometimes profound trip down memory lane-even if the lane is not your own." -TriQuarterly Review "Over a ten-year period, Kitchen worked on Half in Shade, trying to come to terms with an inherited collection of family memorabilia that enlightened as much as it confused. . . . Most compelling is her attempt to find out the things she does not know but suspects about her mother, including an unexpected romance." -BookSlut "Half in Shade: Family, Photography, and Fate, takes an intensive look at the intent behind 20th-century photography in general, with specific reflections on what any photo can tell us. . . . [I]t can leave even the least nostalgic of readers wishing they had paid more attention."-The Quivering Pen "Kitchen's invitation to look with her at the images she has gathered-a journey of seeking and finding or failing to find-is irresistible, and the company of her assuredly meditative voice makes a reader want to respond in kind. . . . Half in Shade glows with a kind of inspirational energy that will make this book eminently teachable."-Water Stone Review "Half in Shade is one of those rare, hypnotically enjoyable books that can be stretched out over many long, lazy afternoons or read in one sitting. Kitchen writes of photographs that 'there is a mystery in a still moment. The very black-and-white of it. It serves as entry into another time, another place.' The same could be said of her words." -ForeWard "Half in Shade is the work-diligent and curious-of an innocent of sorts, a daughter, mother, and grandmother mapping family stories and myths using grainy images as her guide."-No Such Thing As Was "Kitchen's ruminations linger long after Half in Shade is finished, leaving readers to question how much we really know about the people who become our parents." -Shelf Awareness "Judith Kitchen has written a book that is at once clear and accessible and at the same time insistently complex. Her effortlessly constructed hybrids make Half in Shade part memoir, part speculation, part essay, a demonstration of the interactive art of seeing, and finally for me, a beautifully sustained meditation. It is at that meditative level that the book's potent, unsentimental emotive power gathers." -Stuart Dybek "[Half in Shade] rewards a leisurely reading, with not only, as Kitchen promises, "patterns of American immigration and opportunities," but an experience that may open the eyes to the treasure chest of American experience found among those stepchildren of the arts the snapshots. Kitchen's book lets you know what a keen eye coupled with an alert and sensitive intelligence can see." Publishers Weekly "Kitchen's collaboration with the past serves as a reminder that we of the twenty-first century are neither the first nor the last to know heartbreak. Rather, we are simply one more snapshot in the collage of humanity half-blurry proof that none of us are ever truly forgotten." LA Review "Behind the beautiful language Kitchen employs and the poignant moments she unearths, it's the theme of life's instability that resonates most. . . . Using her imagination and ours Kitchen creates a testament to the veracity of art: sometimes the fiction is more real than the facts. More importantly, sometimes all the spectator needs to connect the dots is that uncanny sense of familiarity." The Brooklyn Rail "Half in Shade [is] well worth the read. Together with the photographs, it offers an entertaining, quirky, and sometimes profound trip down memory lane even if the lane is not your own." TriQuarterly Review "Over a ten-year period, Kitchen worked on Half in Shade, trying to come to terms with an inherited collection of family memorabilia that enlightened as much as it confused. . . . Most compelling is her attempt to find out the things she does not know but suspects about her mother, including an unexpected romance." BookSlut "Half in Shade: Family, Photography, and Fate, takes an intensive look at the intent behind 20th-century photography in general, with specific reflections on what any photo can tell us. . . . [I]t can leave even the least nostalgic of readers wishing they had paid more attention." The Quivering Pen "Kitchen's invitation to look with her at the images she has gathered a journey of seeking and finding or failing to find is irresistible, and the company of her assuredly meditative voice makes a reader want to respond in kind. . . . Half in Shade glows with a kind of inspirational energy that will make this book eminently teachable." Water Stone Review "Half in Shade is one of those rare, hypnotically enjoyable books that can be stretched out over many long, lazy afternoons or read in one sitting. Kitchen writes of photographs that 'there is a mystery in a still moment. The very black-and-white of it. It serves as entry into another time, another place.' The same could be said of her words." ForeWard "Half in Shade is the work diligent and curious of an innocent of sorts, a daughter, mother, and grandmother mapping family stories and myths using grainy images as her guide." No Such Thing As Was "Kitchen's ruminations linger long after Half in Shade is finished, leaving readers to question how much we really know about the people who become our parents." Shelf Awareness "Judith Kitchen has written a book that is at once clear and accessible and at the same time insistently complex. Her effortlessly constructed hybrids make Half in Shade part memoir, part speculation, part essay, a demonstration of the interactive art of seeing, and finally for me, a beautifully sustained meditation. It is at that meditative level that the book's potent, unsentimental emotive power gathers." Stuart Dybek

Filled with scores of family and found photos and journal entries, this book will appeal to family historians, scrapbookers, diarists, and anyone interested in the power of family and memory. A book that contemplates families, especially the relationship between mother and daughter, Half in Shade is an ideal Mother's Day gift. The book will appeal to people diagnosed with cancer and those who know someone affected by cancer. Speculating on the unknown in each photograph, this book actively engages the reader in a balancing act of fact and fiction, inspiring them to do the same with their own photo albums. Course adoption: creative nonfiction, autobiography/memoir, health journalism.