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Nominate-best-2010

The Odyssey

A queer take on the Dead White Male
By NINA MACLAUGHLIN  |  May 9, 2007
3.0 3.0 Stars
odyssey_inside
THE ODYSSEY: Davina Semo’s Book VI is a highlight.

As far as Dead White Males go, Homer ranks as grandfather to them all — the Odyssey remains a staple on Western Civ syllabi in colleges across the country. Andrea Lawlor and Bernadine Mellis tackle the story of Odysseus’s decade-long trip back to Ithaca after the Trojan War in the form of 24 short films by queer, trans, and women artists. The DWM institution doesn’t get subverted, exactly — the project follows a tradition of reinterpretation of the Odyssey. It just happens to be a more postmodern take than, say, Tennyson’s. The plot aligns with that of the epic, and helpful bits of text guide you from chapter to chapter. Davina Semo’s Book VI, when Odysseus encounters the virgin princess Nausikaa, is a highlight; Semo evokes a sexual mood with crude clay objects. Book X, when the crew get turned to swine, stands out for its painted wooden characters. There are some clunkers: Odysseus slaying the suitors, for example, is told by a woman sitting at a kitchen table.
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  Topics: Reviews , Andrea Lawlor, Bernadine Mellis, THE ODYSSEY
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ARTICLES BY NINA MACLAUGHLIN
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  •   SMALL WONDERS  |  February 03, 2010
    The books — a quartet of them, each five-by-five, smaller than a CD case — feel like treasures, handsome little volumes, a different gem of a story in each.
  •   HAVE A NICE FUTURE  |  September 09, 2009
    Blake Butler rains gravel and glass
  •   A GIRL'S GUIDE TO BOSTON BOYS  |  September 04, 2009
    Autumn opens itself wide with possibility. And Boston begins to crackle with fresh energy (you'll feel it), as the city spreads its arms to thousands of new humans. New brains and bodies abuzz with all sorts of anticipation. The feeling of fall: potential .
  •   REVIEW: IN THE DEVIL'S TERRITORY BY KYLE MINOR  |  February 25, 2009
    In Kyle Minor's dark debut collection of stories, personal secrets always exact a terrible price.
  •   ASTA IN THE WINGS  |  January 28, 2009
    Jan Elizabeth Watson was reluctant, at first, to set her dreamy first novel in Maine, afraid of marginalizing herself as a "Maine writer."

 See all articles by: NINA MACLAUGHLIN

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