Handbooks denote representative authority, which gives their content normative value and through which editors and authors can emphasize certain views and orientations within a field. The representative authority of a handbook is reinforced in various ways, both obvious and subtle. The "SAGE Handbook of Curriculum and Instruction" is no exception to the implicit rules of the handbook genre. Through "The Handbook," the editors sought to advance a conception of curriculum that was "inviting and inclusive," while acknowledging that any organizing framework would privilege some views over many others about what constitutes an adequate representation of the field. In this essay, the author focuses and draws primarily on the "Introduction" (Connelly, He, Phillion, Schlein) and final chapter ("The Landscape of Curriculum and Instruction: Diversity and Continuity" (Connelley and Xu), because it is in these two that the editors state their aims and visions for "The Handbook." He concludes that "The Handbook" makes an important contribution as a particular representation of the field and it underscores the fact that curriculum studies is a lively, interesting, and exciting academic field. In this way, "The Handbook" complements other attempts and it should be seen as such and as a sign of the health of the field. The editors acknowledge the challenge of representing a field as diverse as curriculum in a single handbook, and argue that theirs simply aims to provide a time marker from which to view the field. It does this quite effectively, even as it must be read alongside other attempts at understanding the field that shed light where "The Handbook" casts shadows.