The Argonauts
Winner of the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism
One of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2015
A New York Times Editor’s Choice
A Bust Magazine Pick from Carrie Brownstein's Reading List
A 2017 Folio Prize Nominee
An Audible Editors Top Pick of Favorite Audiobooks
A BuzzFeed Books Pick of Favorite Books of the Decade
A London Guardian Pick of Best Books of the 21st Century
A Paste Magazine Pick of Best Memoirs of the Decade
An Esquire Pick of the Best Books of the Decade
An Autostraddle Pick of Best Queer, Lesbian, Bisexual Books of the Decade
A Wired Magazine Pick of Best Nonfiction of the Decade
Vol.1 Brooklyn Pick
Vulture.com Pick
A New York Public Library Staff Pick of Favorite Books of the Last 125 Years
A timely and genre-bending memoir that offers fresh and fierce reflections on motherhood, desire, identity and feminism
At the centre of The Argonauts is the love story between Maggie Nelson and the artist Harry Dodge, who is fluidly gendered. As Nelson undergoes the transformations of pregnancy, she explores the challenges and complexities of mothering and queer family making.
Writing in the tradition of public intellectuals like Susan Sontag, Nelson uses arresting prose even as she questions the limits of language. The Argonauts is an intrepid voyage out to the frontiers of love, language and family.
Praise