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leguinstan's review
4.5
While much has been said about Nelson's heavy incorporation of queer and feminist theory in her memoir, the sense of uncertainty expressed in The Argonauts is what made the biggest impression on me. From the meandering stream-of-consciousness writing to the chain of unanswered questions peppered throughout her theoretical musings, Nelson makes it apparent that for all her erudition she is just as unmoored as the rest of us. This is in stark contrast to what most of us expect from a memoir: a strictly chronological presentation of a sequence of events leading to a significant change or revelation in the memoirist's life. Nelson intentionally leans into the contradictory, ever-evolving aspects of her identity and resists the instinct to compress her life into the confines of a narrative arc.
While I found it very easy to appreciate these aspects of the work, I can't say the same for the aforementioned incorporation of theory which had me frustrated at several points. And aside from this frustration, I also find it more difficult to find the value in what is arguably the single most inaccessible aspect of the memoir. But considering the fact that Nelson is entrenched in academia and that she is interested in queer and feminist theory, would a removal of the theoretical analysis in The Argonauts be a less authentic representation of Maggie Nelson's life? Can authenticity sometimes be at odds with accessibility? Is this genre-mashing a reflection of Nelson's multiplicity?
The reading experience may not have been smooth sailing, but Nelson's boldly experimental, vulnerable, thought-provoking writing makes up for the bumpy ride.
Graphic: Pregnancy
Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Stalking
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Homophobia, Dysphoria, and Transphobia
pang's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Moderate: Stalking and Grief
Minor: Transphobia
souplover2001's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Pregnancy
Moderate: Sexual content, Stalking, and Transphobia
softanimal's review
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Medical content, and Sexual content
beanwa's review against another edition
4.0
Especially loved her perspective of being partnered with someone who is gender non-conforming/trans/non-binary.
Graphic: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Stalking
jonsnowsmanbun's review against another edition
4.25
Moderate: Body shaming, Sexual content, Transphobia, Terminal illness, Stalking, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Hate crime, Fatphobia, Cancer, Death of parent, and Abortion
Minor: Excrement
daria_mm's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Sexual content and Pregnancy
Moderate: Stalking
skudiklier's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Pregnancy
Moderate: Mental illness, Child death, and Sexual content
Minor: Transphobia
Childbirthlilysendroff's review
4.25
Graphic: Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, and Stalking
Moderate: Addiction and Sexism
Minor: Abortion
Frequent mentions of Buddhism, reference to a theorist who makes questionable claims about being pregnant with mixed children as a white woman, and naming their child with a Native American name are all aspects of the books that entirely fail to interrogate the role whiteness, which is both jarring and disappointing.suspicious_salmon's review against another edition
3.25
Graphic: Death of parent and Pregnancy
Moderate: Dysphoria, Medical content, Sexual content, Lesbophobia, Transphobia, and Infertility
Minor: Alcoholism, Cultural appropriation, Excrement, Grief, Deadnaming, Addiction, Miscarriage, Stalking, and Terminal illness