Synopses & Reviews
In sixteen intimate essays, poet Molly McCully Brown explores living within and beyond the limits of a body — in her case, one shaped since birth by cerebral palsy, a permanent and often painful movement disorder. In spite of — indeed, in response to — physical constraints, Brown leads a peripatetic life: the essays comprise a vivid travelogue set throughout the United States and Europe, ranging from the rural American South of her childhood to the cobblestoned streets of Bologna, Italy. Moving between these locales and others, Brown constellates the subjects that define her inside and out: a disabled and conspicuous body, a religious conversion, a missing twin, a life in poetry. As she does, she depicts vividly for us not only her own life but a striking array of sites and topics, among them Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and the world's oldest anatomical theater, the American Eugenics movement, and Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. Throughout, Brown offers us the gift of her exquisite sentences, woven together in consideration, always, of what it means to be human — flawed, potent, feeling
Review
"Brimming with both grief for what is lost and determination for the present and future, Brown's beautiful language and haunting imagery shine as she dissects her life experiences with striking candor and self-awareness." Shelf Awareness
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"Anyone who has faced physical challenges is sure to find wisdom in Brown's words as well as the universal truths she shares." Library Journal
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"Places I've Taken My Body will strike chords in anyone who's ever questioned their faith, been challenged by their body, or who has ever been vulnerable — which is to say, all of us." Foreword Reviews
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"Poet Brown...explores living with cerebral palsy in her fine prose debut...Brown's work leaves readers with a lyrical look at living within the confines of the body." Publishers Weekly
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"Brown is a writer to watch. Heartfelt and wrenching, a significant addition to the literature of disability." Kirkus Reviews
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"In this collection of searing and ineffable essays, poet Brown describes in gorgeous prose her lifelong struggle with cerebral palsy....Brown's essays can feel like a punch in the gut, but they are beautiful, nevertheless." Booklist (Starred Review)
About the Author
Molly McCully Brown received her MFA from the University of Mississippi, and is a graduate of Stanford University and Simon's Rock of Bard College. She has published poems in Gulf Coast, Image, Kenyon Review, and elsewhere.