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Mz N: the serial: A Poem-in-Episodes
A philosophical and sensual exploration of identity from the National Book Award finalist
The acclaimed poet, memoirist, and essayist Maureen N. McLane here charts a new path into vital genre-bending territories. Not a novel, not a memoir, not a lyric, Mz N: the serial offers something else—“life . . . a continual allegory” (to invoke Keats): a life intense, episodic, female, sexual, philosophical, romantic, analytic. Tracking the growth of one poet’s mind, switchbacking its way through American English, Mz N: the serial toggles between story and song. This is a poetry both “furious / & alive.”
Alive to the lash of love, the longueurs of adolescence, the limits of identity, Mz N: the serial is a bravura experiment in life-writing—an assaying, a testing, a transforming, an honoring of the tentative and the torqued. What is it to be contemporary, to be “one / among other ones” in a “cracking world”? How does a body vibrate into being? How is a mind made out of other minds? Seizing the queer realities of any life, Mz N: the serial explores how one is surprised, seduced, and struck into speech, thought, song, silence. “Then, what is life?” cried Shelley. So too Mz N.
The acclaimed poet, memoirist, and essayist Maureen N. McLane here charts a new path into vital genre-bending territories. Not a novel, not a memoir, not a lyric, Mz N: the serial offers something else—“life . . . a continual allegory” (to invoke Keats): a life intense, episodic, female, sexual, philosophical, romantic, analytic. Tracking the growth of one poet’s mind, switchbacking its way through American English, Mz N: the serial toggles between story and song. This is a poetry both “furious / & alive.”
Alive to the lash of love, the longueurs of adolescence, the limits of identity, Mz N: the serial is a bravura experiment in life-writing—an assaying, a testing, a transforming, an honoring of the tentative and the torqued. What is it to be contemporary, to be “one / among other ones” in a “cracking world”? How does a body vibrate into being? How is a mind made out of other minds? Seizing the queer realities of any life, Mz N: the serial explores how one is surprised, seduced, and struck into speech, thought, song, silence. “Then, what is life?” cried Shelley. So too Mz N.
118 pages, Paperback
First published May 17, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 26, 2016
I go to the library less often than I ought. I did, however, make the trip across town the other day to pick up a recipe book for salads.
Why not use the internet, you ask? I don't know. Fate maybe. Maybe I am just old fashioned.
Whenever I go to the library, I grab more books than I could possibly read in the allotted check-out time. I then bring these books to my house filled with more books than I could possibly read in a year. I then watch television, usually.
Sometimes I forget to return the library books in time. I accrue late fees at ten cents per day per book. I could greatly simplify the entire affair and just write a check to my local library for something like 5 dollars every year. That would certainly cover it, and leave me feeling fine, like a true humanitarian.
If, however, I skipped the whole check-out process, I may miss out on the opportunity to read something truly unique, like Maureen N. McLane's latest collection of poems.
I have few criteria when perusing books at the library. I am like a kid burglarizing a candy shop. It's all good. I want it all, and I only feel a little guilty taking it all for free.
I checked this book out for the following reasons:
1.) This collection of poems was on the new books shelf. I rarely have the opportunity to read new poetry. I don't have a bookstore in my town, and the New Yorker seems somehow inappropriate to ship to Idaho. When I see a collection of poems published in the last year, I try and read it.
2.) The book looked short enough to read in a sitting or two, so I may actually get around to reading it instead of just returning it to the library unread.
3.) It was shiny.
I was intrigued by the book's apparent self-consciousness. It calls itself "A Poem-in-Episodes," declaring on the title page: (not/a novel) (not/a memoir) (not/a lyric). If I may borrow the style of the book, I asked:
What is it
it is what
it is it is
What it is is an examination of the evolution of mind through the words of Mz N. The book explores how experiences, memories, other minds create, expand, and enliven our minds. The book's persona, Mz N., takes us through time, through the awkwardness of childhood, "Mz N vehemently/ objects to the making fun of children/ who struggle every day/ to get their words/ and bodies aligned," to adulthood and back to Plato's cave and frathouses and more.
Mz N: The Serial will probably only be checked out of the Marshall Public Library a few times before it is relegated to book sale bargain bins--that's if it's lucky. I don't know why such a book ended up in Pocatello, Idaho, but I am glad it did. It's poetry that captivates as well as fiction ever could. It was a refreshing read--something new, Mz N might say contemporary, but timeless. Unique and somehow universal. It is what good poetry should be: readable, profound, exciting, daring, dangerous, insightful, aware, alive.
Why not use the internet, you ask? I don't know. Fate maybe. Maybe I am just old fashioned.
Whenever I go to the library, I grab more books than I could possibly read in the allotted check-out time. I then bring these books to my house filled with more books than I could possibly read in a year. I then watch television, usually.
Sometimes I forget to return the library books in time. I accrue late fees at ten cents per day per book. I could greatly simplify the entire affair and just write a check to my local library for something like 5 dollars every year. That would certainly cover it, and leave me feeling fine, like a true humanitarian.
If, however, I skipped the whole check-out process, I may miss out on the opportunity to read something truly unique, like Maureen N. McLane's latest collection of poems.
I have few criteria when perusing books at the library. I am like a kid burglarizing a candy shop. It's all good. I want it all, and I only feel a little guilty taking it all for free.
I checked this book out for the following reasons:
1.) This collection of poems was on the new books shelf. I rarely have the opportunity to read new poetry. I don't have a bookstore in my town, and the New Yorker seems somehow inappropriate to ship to Idaho. When I see a collection of poems published in the last year, I try and read it.
2.) The book looked short enough to read in a sitting or two, so I may actually get around to reading it instead of just returning it to the library unread.
3.) It was shiny.
I was intrigued by the book's apparent self-consciousness. It calls itself "A Poem-in-Episodes," declaring on the title page: (not/a novel) (not/a memoir) (not/a lyric). If I may borrow the style of the book, I asked:
What is it
it is what
it is it is
What it is is an examination of the evolution of mind through the words of Mz N. The book explores how experiences, memories, other minds create, expand, and enliven our minds. The book's persona, Mz N., takes us through time, through the awkwardness of childhood, "Mz N vehemently/ objects to the making fun of children/ who struggle every day/ to get their words/ and bodies aligned," to adulthood and back to Plato's cave and frathouses and more.
Mz N: The Serial will probably only be checked out of the Marshall Public Library a few times before it is relegated to book sale bargain bins--that's if it's lucky. I don't know why such a book ended up in Pocatello, Idaho, but I am glad it did. It's poetry that captivates as well as fiction ever could. It was a refreshing read--something new, Mz N might say contemporary, but timeless. Unique and somehow universal. It is what good poetry should be: readable, profound, exciting, daring, dangerous, insightful, aware, alive.
March 27, 2024
Pacing felt too fast for the profundity of the discussed topics...
"Mz N Trans" was a nice poem, though.
"Mz N Trans" was a nice poem, though.
September 23, 2017
I thought the book itself was odd. I picked it up and thought it said serial murderer but I was mistaken. 😅
December 27, 2021
Short poetic reflection on a life.. not a novel in verse, nor a memoir. Fascinating, metaliterary work pushing the boundaries of genre, style, narrative, character, and dare I say , plot.
Mz N is everyone and no one all at once, in the way that we all are, to some extent, ourselves and everyone else.
In sum, “What is a concept/ What is a conceptual artist/An artist with a concept”
Mz N is everyone and no one all at once, in the way that we all are, to some extent, ourselves and everyone else.
In sum, “What is a concept/ What is a conceptual artist/An artist with a concept”
January 11, 2026
Inventive ' narrative ' poem
This,to my mind, is Mclane's best poetry book overall. The word play is exceptional. A hugely enjoyable read. 'A real page turner' too, as someone said in a review.
This,to my mind, is Mclane's best poetry book overall. The word play is exceptional. A hugely enjoyable read. 'A real page turner' too, as someone said in a review.
October 27, 2017
Wow. Simply put, this is a stunning, beautifully written book.
November 23, 2025
I cannot put my praise into words, but know that this collection changed the way I think of poetry in a way that affected me deeply.
February 16, 2017
Style forward poetry with many references to classical poets that comprises poetic styles from the sonnet to hip hop.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews