In his memoir, The Blessing, poet Gregory Orr notes that the French root of the word “blessing” is blesser, meaning “to wound.” Our wounds and our blessings are inextricably linked, Orr demonstrates, as he recalls a childhood trauma in which he accidentally shot and killed his younger brother when on a family hunting trip. The incident has haunted and shaped Orr’s journey as a writer and poet, in which he has produced such works as Poetry as Survival and How Beautiful the Beloved, as well as his memoir, The Blessing, which explores the dysfunctional family environment of his childhood from a hard-won perspective of compassion for self and others.