The Argonauts

The Argonauts is a book by poet and critic Maggie Nelson, published in 2015. It mixes philosophical theory with memoir.^[1] The book discusses her 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] The book won a National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism for books published in 2015.^[5]

The Argonauts

Author	Maggie Nelson
Genre	Autotheory
Publisher	Graywolf Press
Publication date	2015
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print
Pages	160
ISBN	1555977073

This article is about the book by Maggie Nelson. For the mythological heroes, see Argonauts. For other uses, see Argonaut (disambiguation).

Reception

According to Book Marks, the book received "rave" consensus, based on fourteen critics: eleven "rave" and three "positive".^[6] In the September/October 2015 issue of Bookmarks, the book was scored four out of five. The magazine's critical summary reads: "The Argonauts, "a loose yet intricate tapestry of memoir, criticism and gentle polemic [and] a magnificent achievement of thought, care and art" (Los Angeles Times), should interest readers of all kinds".^[7][8]