The Anatomy Theater

by Nadine Meyer

An exciting first collection of poetry from an emerging talent, Nadine Meyer's The Anatomy Theater was a winner of the 2005 National Poetry Series Open Competition, selected by esteemed poet John Koethe. For over twenty years, the National Poetry Series has discovered many new and emerging voices and has been instrumental in launching the careers of poets and writers such as Billy Collins, Mark Doty, Denis Johnson, Cole Swensen, Thylias Moss, Mark Levine, and Dionisio Martinez.

Genres: Poetry

78 pages, Paperback

First published August 29, 2006

Reviews

[Tiffany]

This is a *very* interesting collection of poems, by a poet whom I hadn't read prior to this book. Meyer manages to make the science of the human body a beautiful, flooring event. Her poems about human dissection and "the anatomy theater" grip the reader, as she lays out scene after scene from which the reader wants to look away, but cannot. When she moves into ekphrasis in the second part of the book, she's less powerful, but still very talented. I would definitely recommend this to other poets, or lovers of poetry.

On a side note, there is an exhibit coming to The Science Center in Pittsburgh in October called "Bodies . . . The Exhibition." It is composed of real, posed human cadavers. I had been back and forth on whether I wanted to attend, because apparently, it's ethically questionable (none of the people gave consent, and the bodies were mysteriously acquired from the Chinese government), but this book did give me a little push toward going to see that exhibit.

[Matt]

The poems on Donne that begin and finish this fine collection are worth the price of the book. Overall, it’s a wonderful, mysterious, and fascinating riff on ekphrasis and the human body. A few poems herein—attended to in quietude—are likely to provide you with one of poetry’s greatest pleasures—the compulsion to re-read the poems repeatedly. What’s more: many of them are inexhaustible.

[Sohair E.]

This is quite possibly one of the most difficult and unique poetry books I have ever and will ever come across. I will need to reread it multiple times just to dissect every single poem and how ridiculously intricate every poem is. Nadine Meyer is truly underrated and I can't wait to read more of her works, even if it takes me a whole year just to get through a short collection of poetry.

[Rebecca Evans]

Unique. Insightful. Unmasks history. Unabashedly stares back (at you). Shows the sustained sinews of a poem and lets you wander through the chambers of the heart

[Emily]

I love anatomy, but this book was so much anatomy that the poems blended together and all seemed the same.

[Angela]

This is a collection of poems that is technically good. However, I wouldn't exactly call it an enjoyable read. Meyer has some interesting inspirations (16th c. anatomy writings and drawings, 19th-20th c. painters, circuses, Greek mythology, John Donne) but she revisits them so often. It's almost like there are three or four versions of every poem, and that each re-telling is purely an exercise in technique. None of the poems are bad, but none of them are particularly exciting, either. One thing that I admired about her writing is that she objectifies the human body in a scientific way, showing us the sheer "otherness" of our own flesh and bone.

Poems that I liked:
=0/20 (0%)

[Eva-Marie Nevarez]

I have no earthly idea how to rate this book of poems. If I wasn't as anal as I am I wouldn't rate it at all....but I can't do that which is plainly obvious.
I'm not a big lover of poems in at all- any poems. I can read some and appreciate them but I just don't fall in love with them they way some others do. I can't name one poem that has stayed with me throughout my life and I can't name one author who has written a poem that changed my life, my thoughts, etc. I'd say the closest I can come is Ellen Hopkins. Even though I think Hopkins is close to genius that should say a lot to all the poem lovers out there. :D
For some reason I found myself holding my breath during a lot of these poems. It was almost like I couldn't do anything, even take a breath in, until I got to where I needed to be. That doesn't make sense to me so I don't expect anyone else to understand it but I felt it needed to be said.
I can't recommend this to anyone because I don't know enough about poetry. I would say not to disregard this because of the subject though- Meyer magically is able to make something most people shudder to think about absolutely beautiful. She most definitely has a great gift.

[Jennifer]

Nadine Sabra Meyer does a wonderful job of exploring the body and representations of it from the early anatomy drawings to the paintings of Toulouse-Lautrec to a photograph of her father. She presents the different ways that flesh has been viewed. In turn her verse can be both visceral and ethereal, but even when she write of gods-- the weight, the beauty, and the vulgarity of our bodies is still present.

[Jessica]

Descriptions of vivisection so vivid I flinched, I shivered. A poet with an obsession is a beautiful thing, and this poet is obsessed with the body, its musculature, its innards, already a beautiful thing in itself. Remarkably different book. Beautiful technique.