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Jane: A Murder
Jane: A Murder | Maggie Nelson
Jane tells the spectral story of the life and death of Maggie Nelson s aunt Jane, who was murdered in 1969 while a first-year law student at the University of Michigan. Though officially unsolved, Jane s murder was apparently the third in a series of seven brutal rape-murders in the area. Nelson was born a few years after Jane s death, and the narrative is suffused with the long shadow her murder cast over both the family and her psyche. Jane explores the nature of this haunting incident via a collage of poetry, prose, and documentary sources, including newspapers, related "true crime" books, and fragments from Jane s own diaries written. Each piece in Jane has its own form that serves as an important fissure, disrupting the tabloid, "page-turner" quality of the story, and eventually returning the reader to deeper questions about girlhood, empathy, identification, and the essentially unknowable aspects of another s life and death. Part elegy, part memoir, detective story, part meditation on violence, and part conversation between the living and the dead, Jane s powerful and disturbing subject matter, combined with its innovations in genre, expands the notion of what poetry can dowhat kind of stories it can tell, and how it can tell them."
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AryaWolf
Jane: A Murder | Maggie Nelson
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Maggie Nelson never disappoints. I love how she wove the story of her aunt through first hand accounts and diary snippets, all while using poetry as her medium. Nelson manages to prove to my grade school self that there is so much more to poetry than sonnets and stiff rules. She does a remarkable job of giving life and dimension to her aunt. I‘m sure Jane would have been proud.

readordierachel I loved this one too 4y
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Chelsea.Poole
Jane: A Murder | Maggie Nelson
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An entirely readable examination of a young woman's life which ended in murder. Maggie Nelson uses verse to write about her aunt's tragic death which happened in the late 1960s. Excerpts from young Jane's diary are included and definitely enhance the readers' understanding of her. Such an interesting format. I was riveted. I picked this up after reading The Argonauts by Nelson on audio recently. Next is The Red Parts.

kspenmoll The Red Parts was riveting. 4y
Chelsea.Poole @kspenmoll glad to hear it! It just came in for me yesterday at the library. I'm excited to get to it. 4y
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tholmz
Jane: A Murder | Maggie Nelson
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Beautiful. I read The Red Parts last year and was eager to read this one too. I was not disappointed. Interesting format and such a sad and well told story.

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cfranchi
Jane: A Murder | Maggie Nelson
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I prefer poetry books, as the text on each page is typically shorter, making it easier for me to finish books in a sitting. I really enjoyed this book overall. there are some details to sexual assault, so please beware of possible triggers!

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Poindextrix
Jane: A Murder | Maggie Nelson
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Heading to my "no political talk" Thanksgiving dinner and I just read this line.

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RebeccaH
Jane: A Murder | Maggie Nelson
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Of course it's Maggie Nelson. #firsteverlitsypost

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bookculture
Jane: A Murder (Large Print 16pt) | Maggie Nelson, Michael Muhammad Knight
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Even more summer reading picks. 😎🌞📚

BookishFeminist 😍😍 such great choices! 8y
MrBook They seem endless in a plethoric kind of way, don't they? :-) 8y
MLRio Rebhorn's DECAMERON translation: 👌🏻 8y
Mairi The lathe of heaven is one of my 'real world' bookclub selections! 8y
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RebeccaH
Jane: A Murder (Large Print 16pt) | Maggie Nelson, Michael Muhammad Knight
Pickpick

Loved.

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RebeccaH
Jane: A Murder (Large Print 16pt) | Maggie Nelson, Michael Muhammad Knight
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Currently reading Maggie Nelson, who is the best.

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