The Doors of the Body [Perfect Paperback]

Mary Alexandra Agner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2009

Mary Alexandra Agner's The Doors of the Body travels through ancient Greek mythology to more recent folk tales to ascertain and exclaim in the vatic, sometimes fierce voices of women: Athena, Gretel, Sleeping Beauty and even darling Clementine. Poems like "Sweets" and "Oh My Darling" reveal the dark underbelly of our well-loved tales, in a world where Sleeping Beauty escapes her fate - while others are not so lucky. Her musical writing, in poems both free and formal, lends a melancholy grace to the pageant of famous dead women.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Mary Alexandra Agner is one of the most brilliant and promising young poets around, and "The Doors of the Body" confirms her groundstrengths and airgifts. Its insightful reimaginings and scrupulous investitures of archetypes and myths are depth-redemptive, and invoke us to fresh encounters with the repressed energies of nature and time. --Bill Knott<br /><br />Rangy originality and deep curiosity drive these poems into unexpected places. Agner is an imaginative and ambitious poet who knows how to set herself new challenges, whether thematically, formally, metrically, or emotionally, and also how to meet them. --Annie Finch

Mary Alexandra Agner is one of the most brilliant and promising young poets around, and "The Doors of the Body" confirms her groundstrengths and airgifts. Its insightful reimaginings and scrupulous investitures of archetypes and myths are depth-redemptive, and invoke us to fresh encounters with the repressed energies of nature and time. --Bill Knott

About the Author

Mary Alexandra Agner writes of dead women, telescopes, and secrets. She was born in a United State made for lovers and currently lives outside Boston. Her family tree bears Parson Brown oranges. Her advanced degrees include Earth and planetary science, and creative writing; she's blessed to have a paying job that utilizes both of them. All her life she's observed the universe and written about it.

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 34 pages
• Publisher: Mayapple Press (July 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0932412793
• ISBN-13: 978-0932412799
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,825,572 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging poems based in mythology and folk tales, January 1, 2012

By 

Joanne Merriam (Nashville, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Doors of the Body (Paperback)

[Full disclosure: Although we've never met, I know Agner slightly online from poetry communities we both belong to, and we will be doing a reading together in Nashville in March, where she will be promoting her new book The Scientific Method.]

This is an engaging book of poems which retell mythological stories and folk tales from the point of view of various female characters within the stories. I think any fan of these sorts of retellings will enjoy this book, even if they don't normally read much poetry. Agner is an accomplished poet, but in a very accessible vein. Mayapple Press has posted a sample (a wonderfully bittersweet retelling of the folk ballad "Oh My Darling, Clementine") on their site at http://www.mayapplepress.com/BookPages/Agner.htm, which will give some sense of Agner's lovely way with language.