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Some Animal
Aligned with queer theories of temporality, fragments of memoir rub against the language of psychiatric and medical regimes at the site of a body that does not conform to a gender binary. Some Animal draws out dream-like and supernatural resonances between the literature of pathology and experiences of gender dysphoria.
120 pages, Paperback
First published May 3, 2018
3 people are currently reading
213 people want to read
About the author
Ely Shipley
6 books24 followersEly Shipley is the author of Some Animal (Nightboat Books); Boy with Flowers, winner of the Barrow Street Press book prize judged by Carl Phillips, the Thom Gunn Award, and finalist for a Lambda Literary Award; and On Beards: A Memoir of Passing, a letterpress chapbook from speCt! Books. His poems and cross-genre work also appear in the Western Humanities Review, Prairie Schooner, Crazyhorse, Greensboro Review, Painted Bride Quarterly, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Witness, Diagram, Gulf Coast, Fugue, Third Coast, and elsewhere. He holds an MFA from Purdue University and a PhD from the University of Utah. He taught for many years at Baruch College, CUNY in NYC and currently teaches at Western Washington University.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 4, 2018
I was getting my classic silent tears all over Some Animal before the first section was even over; it truly stunned and impressed me throughout. Much like Maggie Nelson, Ely Shipley writes in the mode of autotheory, weaving intertexts like DSM IV passages, historical content, and other poems with his own beautiful work. Because queerness has both deeply personal and broadly sociological valences, the method works in Shipley (as it does in Nelson) to render his experiences with everything from sexuality to transphobia with both poetic complexity and political resonance.
One thing I just can't get over about this book is the profound empathy Shipley's poems express for others experiencing subjugation, violence, and loneliness. On the face of things, this book is a memoir about queer shame and pain vis a vis the experience of one person's life. But Shipley makes such powerful gestures toward the internal lives of others that the book becomes more expansive than that. In one section, for example, Shipley writes about a painful childhood experience and intersperses the narrative with descriptions of a classmate from India who had no friends at school. The ache of loneliness in those passages-- the particular way in which Shipley renders the discomfort of childhood-- killed me.
My only tiny complaint about Some Animal is that I wished I could have known what the source material of more of the intertexts was without having to cross-reference with the back of the book (it wasn't always clear which passages were Shipley's, and which were parts of the piece's collage of texts), and maybe that the book had even more material. That is to say that this was just such a beautiful collection that I wanted even more of it.
I was grateful for the opportunity to read Some Animal, and I hope that others check out Shipley's work.
One thing I just can't get over about this book is the profound empathy Shipley's poems express for others experiencing subjugation, violence, and loneliness. On the face of things, this book is a memoir about queer shame and pain vis a vis the experience of one person's life. But Shipley makes such powerful gestures toward the internal lives of others that the book becomes more expansive than that. In one section, for example, Shipley writes about a painful childhood experience and intersperses the narrative with descriptions of a classmate from India who had no friends at school. The ache of loneliness in those passages-- the particular way in which Shipley renders the discomfort of childhood-- killed me.
My only tiny complaint about Some Animal is that I wished I could have known what the source material of more of the intertexts was without having to cross-reference with the back of the book (it wasn't always clear which passages were Shipley's, and which were parts of the piece's collage of texts), and maybe that the book had even more material. That is to say that this was just such a beautiful collection that I wanted even more of it.
I was grateful for the opportunity to read Some Animal, and I hope that others check out Shipley's work.
June 21, 2023
brilliant storytelling told through a collage of poetry, other writers' words, DSM snippets, and so forth. incredibly moving and personal, and i will continue to pick up shipley's work as it comes out throughout the years.
March 22, 2023
god fucking sad and beautiful. sometimes stories like this make me conscious of how late transness came to me, but this one made me glad for it, glad for my naiveté and the childhood i got to live because i thought i was cis. maybe that’s a bad thing to think, but it’s true. i’m sorry ely. thank you.
November 17, 2020
Shipley's poetry is striking...as he's a professor at my University, I might have to take one of his classes, one of these days.
April 5, 2021
this collection of queer poetry is haunting in its display of private vulnerabilities, braided with grade school stories and historic references. i really enjoyed the layout of the lengthy poetry- the author thoughtfully spread his work out along many pages- creating this unified alternative realm of memoir, poetry, NF and flash fiction. the unique drafting of work parallels his own queer path thru this world, thru his own personal history.
i loved the cover.
i loved the authors notes in the back, i resonate with this (that goes beyond appropriate citing) need to explain references buried within the poetry lines.
i appreciate that this author teachea at western washington university bc this is less than a stones throw away in realitive terms of local authority.
i cannot decide if i want this collection to be more fleshed out or not. i can understand and resonate with the majority of this authors pov yet i wonder to what extent non GNC folk will be able to follow along- does that matter to the author?
the final lines of this creation hit me the deepest and hardest. my heart feels split open with love and respect and hot tearas, recognizing the roles we play while acting thru Life.
i loved the cover.
i loved the authors notes in the back, i resonate with this (that goes beyond appropriate citing) need to explain references buried within the poetry lines.
i appreciate that this author teachea at western washington university bc this is less than a stones throw away in realitive terms of local authority.
i cannot decide if i want this collection to be more fleshed out or not. i can understand and resonate with the majority of this authors pov yet i wonder to what extent non GNC folk will be able to follow along- does that matter to the author?
the final lines of this creation hit me the deepest and hardest. my heart feels split open with love and respect and hot tearas, recognizing the roles we play while acting thru Life.
August 20, 2024
This is a poetry collection consisting of four long form poems that examine the body, gender, belonging, abuse and love by blending memoir, the language of psychiatry and medicine. My favourite poem was A Sweet Teen.
“In societies in which the night-mare is not widely acknowledged or discussed, its dramatic symptoms are sometimes mistaken for evidence of physical or mental illness.”
“He was the one who told her there was no such thing as soul. She knew there was because she saw her grandmother dead at the wake. She could tell her soul had left
her body. Just a mask, waxy and flat.
He laughed at her and said her grandmother looked flat because they had taken her insides out and embalmed her. He laughed and he laughed.”
“The car feels like a great balloon expanding. The air around my face swells with red mute yells from within. Waves of heat rise from the balloon's elastic skin.”
“In societies in which the night-mare is not widely acknowledged or discussed, its dramatic symptoms are sometimes mistaken for evidence of physical or mental illness.”
“He was the one who told her there was no such thing as soul. She knew there was because she saw her grandmother dead at the wake. She could tell her soul had left
her body. Just a mask, waxy and flat.
He laughed at her and said her grandmother looked flat because they had taken her insides out and embalmed her. He laughed and he laughed.”
“The car feels like a great balloon expanding. The air around my face swells with red mute yells from within. Waves of heat rise from the balloon's elastic skin.”
May 6, 2024
In his TRANS*forming Literature reading, Ely Shipley refers to his poetry as a “collage” that includes memoir, queer theory, history, medical anthropology, pop culture, documentary, letters from therapists, and some snippets from canonical poets. These poems work as fragments of experience, as lyric essay. Beautiful compilation.
"In societies in which the night-mare is not widely
acknowledged or discussed, its dramatic symptoms are
sometimes mistaken for evidence of physical or mental illness."
"In societies in which the night-mare is not widely
acknowledged or discussed, its dramatic symptoms are
sometimes mistaken for evidence of physical or mental illness."
December 25, 2025
Beautiful imagery, and heartbreaking. I think this is an important narrative that many trans men or queer individuals can relate to, even if not all of it is universal. Themes and motifs really work here. My main criticism is that I wish I saw more hope or hint of how to survive in this. There's evidence of time passing that implies survival, but the heart of the book feels so tender and pained. I suppose it's a processing of grief. It comes across brilliantly, which makes my heart hurt. I just need a bigger bandaid, I suppose. Still: beautiful.
July 1, 2018
This is an incredible book of poetry. The sections that are still lingering with me are On Bathrooms and On Beards, and in general, the constant theme of blood throughout the entire book. It was written so fluidly, moving seamlessly from poetic prose or prosey poetry, to found text, and back again. Beautiful and delicate but direct and urgent feeling. Love it!
February 4, 2025
this was a very interesting collection, part poetry-memoir, part collaging of other texts to form a narrative of a trans masculine experience. my favorite sections were definitely the last two, especially “on beards” and its movement between a collection of quotations across time and direct personal reflection.
September 11, 2023
thought the emjambment and use of space and lines was really clever and skillful. reading experience felt super smooth. some gorgeous language. sleep paralysis stuff was hauntinggg. pretty well worn trans autofiction themes and content though.
July 29, 2018
Idea-rich and emotionally stirring, these sequences of trans poetry move nimbly across scene, image, time, and other texts. My favorite sequence is the last one, On Beards: A Memoir of Passing.
November 5, 2019
This book gives a raw and real reality. With a perspective that any individuals don’t get to see. The author is so real that the reader has a chance to walk in Ely Shipleys shoes.
February 9, 2021
I love shipley's use of vivid detail and commingling of radically different, but thematically linked, source materials. I only wish these poems had been as lyrical as the one I read on Poem-A-Day.
January 11, 2022
Bought this in Dallas. It's an interesting read.
January 20, 2022
!!! so good. an amazing mixture of memoir & lyricism & quotations & emotion. do yourself a favor and read this!
April 23, 2022
Specificity illuminates and buttresses beautiful poetry interwoven with intertextuality
November 14, 2024
oh my god
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August 31, 2025Not for me. I liked the final memoir best but otherwise I just couldn’t jive with it. Probably more my fault than the author’s.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews