Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “The Red Parts: Autobiography of a Trial” as Want to Read:
The Red Parts: Autobiography of a Trial
Late in 2004, Maggie Nelson was looking forward to the publication of her book
Jane: A Murder
, a narrative in verse about the life and death of her aunt, who had been murdered thirty-five years before. The case remained unsolved, but Jane was assumed to have been the victim of an infamous serial killer in Michigan in 1969.
Then, one November afternoon, Nelson received a cal ...more
Then, one November afternoon, Nelson received a cal ...more
Paperback
,
224 pages
Expected publication:
April 5th 2016
by Graywolf Press
(first published 2007)
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
The Red Parts
,
please sign up
.
Be the first to ask a question about The Red Parts
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
617)
It is always thrilling--and rare--to find a new author to fall in love with, and to discover that she or he has lots of books, and you're just at the beginning of the happy process of spending time with them. It's true I'm looking forward to reading books 2 and 3 in the Hunger Games series, but, fun as those are, it's nothing compared to how excited--really, joyful--I feel to have discovered Maggie Nelson's work. It's odd to feel joyful about a memoir that deals with the brutal murder of the aut
...more
view all 7 comments
In 1969, Maggie Nelson's aunt was murdered. Her death was linked to the infamous "Michigan Murders" and her killer was never found...until recently. As Maggie, a poet, was just releasing a book of poetry about her aunt and the murder, new DNA evidence was found link a retired nurse to the killing. Maggie and her mother attend the trial each day in order to bear witness.
In the end, however, there was little sense of release and closure since questions are left unanswered and ambiguity remains. In ...more
In the end, however, there was little sense of release and closure since questions are left unanswered and ambiguity remains. In ...more
Jun 20, 2015
Jennifer
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
memoirs-biographies
,
true-crime
It feels a little presumptuous to read a memoir about a brutal, sexualized murder within the author's family, and to come out the other end thinking that they should have done it differently. Perhaps I won't go so far as to actually assert that. What I will say is that I wanted more. Structurally, the narrative could have been tightened up and focused, and the text occasionally made chronological jumps that were not included for stylistic purposes. The tone was often detached, which makes sense
...more
This is a weird book. I bought it because I saw a 48 Hours Mystery piece about a writer who, while writing about an aunt's murder, finds out the murder is close to being solved. (It goes to trial, though even I, who usually side with the prosecution, think it's a shaky case.) Anyway, I thought this would be a book about a family seeking justice and answers. In a way, I think it's much more about how trauma affects generations of a family. Reading it triggered my frequent mantra-- Why don't more
...more
Este libro tiene que leerse semanas después de haberse leído Jane de la misma autora. En The Red Parts se narra directamente lo que poética y dramáticamente exhibe la autora en Jane. Las partes rojas son aquellas que dan cuenta del asesinato de Jane, tía de la autora, a manos de un serial-killer y todo lo que le siguió a este terrible asunto, incluida la reapertura del caso y de las heridas que, de cualquier modo, la familia no había sanado. Nelson muestra con naturalidad las cicatrices de esta
...more
I'm very frustrated: none of my local libraries have Nelson's book that preceded this one (
Jane: A Murder
) which was about her aunt's murder. This is also about her murder, but it is about the re-opening of the case, 36 years later. It's a relatively brief book (195 pages), but it covers a lot of ground. This isn't a mere accounting of the second investigation and trial; it is also a memoir about the author's own life, including the early death of her father. What makes this book stand out is th
...more
Under Others Also Enjoyed there is an insanely wide range of books - diaries, comics, true crime, and a self-help book on putting the passion back into your life - probably the biggest mix I've ever seen. It's fitting, though, because The Red Parts is a lot of things in a little book. A few times I found myself rolling my eyes at Nelson's voice, but that comes with the territory of personal essay.
Mostly, though, this, from "The End of the Story" will be in my brain forever: "I didn't want to te ...more
Mostly, though, this, from "The End of the Story" will be in my brain forever: "I didn't want to te ...more
This book tapped a main line to my heart and brain and all the messy questions that reside there--about why terrible things happen, how they haunt us and the meaning we can't resist making, even when we know better. I sort of just want to name or quote all the parts that spoke to me, like the scene in which Maggie goes to a revival screening of Taxi Driver, only to witness giddy fanboys holler, "Did you ever see what a .44 can do to a woman's pussy?" As someone whose life has been shaped by viol
...more
Dec 13, 2012
Allison Floyd
added it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
drink-the-bleach-drink-the-bleach
Right away I could smell the bleach fumes, but I remained grimly determined to see this slim volume through to the bitter end because 1.) it's a slim volume 2.) it's well-written 3.) it broaches many fascinating, haunting subjects such as the struggle to define a murder victim as a person independent of their murder victim status; the futility of narrative and of the search for closure, particularly as these endeavors apply to the concept of justice; and, of course, grieving and mortality, and 4
...more
This book details the belated (35 years after the crime) trial and conviction of Gary Leiterman for the murder of Jane Mixer. Told from the point of view of the victim's niece (a poet in her own right, who was not yet born when her aunt was killed), the story is so much more than crime pulp about a place and time familiar to me.
Normally not a fan of forensics or true-crime, I nevertheless had been tasked with finding a Michigan-based true-crime story that might be suitable for a county-wide comm ...more
Normally not a fan of forensics or true-crime, I nevertheless had been tasked with finding a Michigan-based true-crime story that might be suitable for a county-wide comm ...more
Jun 21, 2011
Ben Bush
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
you-might-like-this
This reminds me of Stephen Elliott's Adderol Diaries but way creepier, and I think in the end it's probably the better of the two. It's within that category of odd approaches to non-fiction (not quite memoir, elements of collage) that David Shields praises in Reality Hunger. An engrossing and disturbing read.
It's a smart book, mostly demonstrated by the way it both deploys and critiques the cultural fascination with murdered white women. Nelson packs a ton of fascinating moments and contrasts in ...more
It's a smart book, mostly demonstrated by the way it both deploys and critiques the cultural fascination with murdered white women. Nelson packs a ton of fascinating moments and contrasts in ...more
if you read "Jane," definitely check this out! Read it in one day, a fast pace read.
Oct 21, 2013
Bonnie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
truecrimebooks
,
nonfiction
Excellent book. The author, Maggie Nelson, tells the tale of her aunt's murder, Jane Mixer. It was believed, at first, that she was a victim of serial killer John Norman Collins. However, it was later discovered, through DNA, that her killer was Gary Leiterman. This books talks of the roller coaster ride that her family went through. The book is very personal and emotional. I liked the insight a victim's survivor went through, rather than from the suspect's or DA's view. I do recommend this book
...more
Maggie Nelson has written a powerful and deeply personal memoir that explores the world of quiet, enduring grief that settles on a family after suffering a horrific act of violence. Nelson doesn't seek easy answers or sentimental comforts, but rather delves unflinchingly into her own complicated life and the lives of her family as they revisit a tragedy that has left its stamp on them all for over three decades. One of the most haunting and original works I have had the pleasure of reading.
Oct 20, 2008
Kathleen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Kathleen by:
Betsy
The story of the trial of the author's aunt's murderer twenty-five years after the fact is interesting and chilling. But I like the book especially for the author's compelling writing style, and for her quirky thoughts. Nelson effectivly intermingles quotations from Joan Didion, Anne Carson, Virginia Woolf, Paul Celan, Plato and Arthur Schopenhauer as well as pop culture references to movies, songs, Google, etc. into her personal account of the consequences of tragedy. ...less "
Jul 01, 2010
Heather Moss
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
memoir-and-biography
,
true-crime
I read a lot of true crime, but I am a poet who mostly reads poetry and memoirs. True crime (murder) is the impetus for this book, but that's not really the subject. The real subject is more personal and perhaps darker than murder in some ways. I enjoyed Maggie Nelson's writing style. I checked this out from the library the same week that I discovered her book "Jane" at a used bookstore and bought it. I have yet to read "Jane" but that will be next.
A companion to "Jane, a murder," poet Maggie Nelson tells of the story of the cold case murder of her aunt. Really, you have to read "Jane" to get the full emotional impact, but you can read this book alone and still find the author fascinating, sexy, scary and vulnerable. Not your typical "and then the detective said to me" book, this really takes the art of the memoir to a new and personal level.
This is my new gold standard in memoir and recounting personal stories - unsemtimental, honest, frank and somewhow seamlessly weaving time into a cohesive hole. Terse, restrained and resists sprawling messily. As someone working on a sort of similar project, I'm in awe and plan to keep a copy next to me as I write to remind what is good writing.
I really enjoyed this.... though it wasn't what I expected (a little less sleuthing and a little more self-examination). Take Joan Didion's frank and authoritative tone, throw in a decades-old murder, and tell it all in the voice of a poet.
Haunting, complex, and gorgeous. The author blends memoir, primary source material, and poetry to process a horrible trauma that happened in her family before she was born. This is a book unlike anything else I have ever read.
this book was a quick read, it was different from other memoirs I've read, most of the book took place at a certain point in time, around the time the author was writing another book.
Oct 13, 2010
Abby Sominski
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone who can stomach a little gore
Shelves:
favorites
This is a fantastic book, it perfectly combined true crime (which I love) & memoir writing (which I like) ... takes place in Ann Arbor and is perfect for October reading.
After reading Jane, I was interested to read more about the case. Not nearly as artful as the former, but Nelson's work with quiet, simple prose is fascinating.
A sequel of sorts to the Michigan Murders? Sign me, up! Thanks, "Michigan Books" display at the library!
Unfortunately, this book just wasn't that interesting.
Unfortunately, this book just wasn't that interesting.
It's not Bluets. I know I shouldn't have expected it to be Bluets, but I still couldn't stop myself from wishing it was.
Nov 30, 2012
Suzanne
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
creativenonfiction
,
color-class
This book is so good. I learn so much from reading Maggie Nelson. Stunning.
creepy and satisfying. read in one bite.
I love true crime, so I loved this!
haunt me haunt me go on and haunt me
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Maggie Nelson is most recently the author of three books of nonfiction: Bluets (Wave Books, 2009); Women, the New York School, and Other True Abstractions (University of Iowa Press, 2007), and The Red Parts: A Memoir (Free Press, 2007). The Art of Cruelty, a work of art criticism, is forthcoming from WW Norton. Nelson is also the author of several books of poetry, including Something Bright, Then
...more
More about Maggie Nelson...
“Am I sitting here now, months later, in Los Angeles, writing all this down, because I want my life to matter? Maybe so. But I don't want it to matter more than others.
I want to remember, or to learn, how to live as if it matters, as if they all matter, even if they don't.”
—
3 likes
I want to remember, or to learn, how to live as if it matters, as if they all matter, even if they don't.”
“I awoke from this nightmare into a freezing cold motel room: the heater had broken at some point during the night, and the fan was now blowing icy air into the room.
At first I tried to keep warm under the crappy motel bedspread by thinking about the man I loved. At the time he was traveling in Europe, and was thus unreachable. I didn't know it yet, but as I lay there, he was traveling with another woman. Does it matter now? I tried hard to feel his body wrapped tightly around mine.
Next I tried to imagine everyone I had ever loved, and everyone who had ever loved me, wrapped around me. I tried to feel that I was the composite of all these people, instead of alone in a shitty motel room with a broken heater somewhere outside of Detroit, a few miles from where Jane's body was dumped thirty-six years ago on a March night just like this one.
'Need each other as much as you can bear,' writes Eileen Myles. 'Everywhere you go in the world.'
I felt the wild need for any or all of these people that night. Lying there alone, I began to feel - perhaps even to know - that I did not exist apart from their love and need of me.
Of this latter I felt less sure, but it seemed possible, if the equation worked both ways.
Falling asleep I thought, 'Maybe this, for me, is the hand of God.”
—
2 likes
More quotes…
At first I tried to keep warm under the crappy motel bedspread by thinking about the man I loved. At the time he was traveling in Europe, and was thus unreachable. I didn't know it yet, but as I lay there, he was traveling with another woman. Does it matter now? I tried hard to feel his body wrapped tightly around mine.
Next I tried to imagine everyone I had ever loved, and everyone who had ever loved me, wrapped around me. I tried to feel that I was the composite of all these people, instead of alone in a shitty motel room with a broken heater somewhere outside of Detroit, a few miles from where Jane's body was dumped thirty-six years ago on a March night just like this one.
'Need each other as much as you can bear,' writes Eileen Myles. 'Everywhere you go in the world.'
I felt the wild need for any or all of these people that night. Lying there alone, I began to feel - perhaps even to know - that I did not exist apart from their love and need of me.
Of this latter I felt less sure, but it seemed possible, if the equation worked both ways.
Falling asleep I thought, 'Maybe this, for me, is the hand of God.”
