Heads up to NetGalley readers: the NetGalley version was not particularly compatible with Kindle so I ended up reading half on my phone in the NetGalley reader before I just caved and got the book from the library so that I could read it in full.

Overall, really fascinating and engaging memoir with a completely unique set up. It looks like this newer version adds additional citations, which I loved in being able to dive deeper into some of the concepts and thinkers she was referencing. It was my first time reading Maggie Nelson’s work but it won’t be my last!

“Autotheory” is the right word for this work, which is nothing like a traditional memoir. It’s denser and weirder than a memoir, but more personal and less irrelevant than pure theory. I look forward to its rerelease.

I hardly know how to wrap my mind around reviewing this book. Maggie Nelson is certainly an incredible writer and thinker. I enjoyed her voice, and the moments in the book that were strongest for me were those when she shared her personal experiences. I was not familiar with most of the thinkers she quoted, and it took me a while to become oriented to some of the schools of thought she was writing about, although I did get there. I did struggle with some of the content—much of the art she references deals with some degree of obscenity. I think for the author this transgressiveness felt important to her experiences. For my personal preferences, it was more than I typically care to read about. However, this was a powerful book that left me pondering Nelson’s idea, and I do plan to read more of her work.