The Argonauts
2015 nonfiction book Maggie Nelson
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The Argonauts is a book by poet and critic Maggie Nelson, published in 2015. It mixes philosophical theory with memoir.[1]
| |
| Author | Maggie Nelson |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Autotheory |
| Publisher | Graywolf Press |
Publication date | 2015 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 160 |
| Award | National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism (2015) |
| ISBN | 978-1555977078 |
Contents
The book discusses Nelson's romantic relationship with the transgender artist Harry Dodge and her experience being pregnant with her son Iggy, as well as topics like the death of a parent, transgender embodiment, academia, familial relationships, and the limitations of language.[2] Told in non-chronological vignettes interspersed with quotations, Nelson also explores and criticizes ideas from several philosophers including Gilles Deleuze, Judith Butler and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick.[3]
The title is a reference to Roland Barthes' idea that to love someone is similar to an Argonaut who constantly replaces parts of their ship without the ship changing names.[4]
Awards
The Argonauts won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism in 2015.[5][6][7][8] It was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for autobiography in 2015, the Folio Prize in 2017,[9] and was a finalist for the Leslie Feinberg Award for Trans and Gender-Variant Literature in 2016.[10][11]
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