The Argonauts

An intrepid voyage out to the frontiers of the latest thinking about love, language, and family 

Maggie Nelson's The Argonauts is a genre-bending memoir, a work of "autotheory" offering fresh, fierce, and timely thinking about desire, identity, and the limitations and possibilities of love and language. It binds an account of Nelson's relationship with her partner and a journey to and through a pregnancy to a rigorous exploration of sexuality, gender, and "family." An insistence on radical individual freedom and the value of caretaking becomes the rallying cry for this thoughtful, unabashed, uncompromising book.

The Argonauts is a groundbreaking work that reimagines classical mythology through a contemporary lens. This intellectually rigorous text explores themes of identity, desire, and transformation with scholarly precision while remaining accessible to engaged readers. Perfect for those seeking literary depth and philosophical insight, it challenges conventional interpretations and invites critical reflection. An essential addition to any collection focused on modern retellings of ancient narratives.