Tracing the Desire Line

by Melissa Matthewson

Tracing the Desire Line follows a writer's journey of opening her marriage with her husband. The story—told through short memoirs, essays, lists, letters, and hybrid prose poems—is an intimate inquiry into one woman’s search for autonomy with detours into meditations on music, motherhood, religion, love, and wildness.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Essays

232 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2019

About the author

Melissa Matthewson’s essays have appeared in Guernica, DIAGRAM, American Literary Review, Mid-American Review, Bellingham Review, River Teeth, and The Rumpus among other publications. She has been awarded an AWP Intro Journals award in creative nonfiction as well as residencies and scholarships to PLAYA, Art Smith, Bread Loaf Environmental Writers’ Conference, and Tin House. She holds degrees from the University of California, Santa Cruz, University of Montana, and the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She teaches at Southern Oregon University.

Reviews

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew I'd be interested in Matthewson's exploration of desire because it's a subject close to my heart and her lyric language and variety of forms serve the subject so well. What really made me swoon, however, was the way the land, it's flora and fauna, is such a full-bodied character in these essays. So beautiful and so worth a read.

[Michelle Hein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Melissa Matthewson's memoir in essays is an artful and honest exploration of love and passion, expectation and disappointment. To read it was to build a new picture of marriage, with a new appreciation of both the strengths and weaknesses of its shape, its possibilities and limitations. A beautiful, boundary-pushing book.

[Shilo · Rating 5 out of 5]

"At this hour with the deer bedding down and the raccoons making the dog bark, I can't help but think of all my desire bottled up like fizzy water that's going to blow at some point, shoot over the tops of all the trees. I know at this hour, desire is an impossibility not to be mentioned at the dinner table, or among friends while over wine and cheese and all manner of practicality. Desire is for midnight in the dark."

Reading Tracing the Desire Line is like sitting down with an old friend. Told in essays, flash, lyric, and fragmented, this book traces one woman's desire and they way it juts up against the life she has built for herself. It chronicles the questioning and anticipation and resilience and destruction of this desire, sees it to it's fruition and then watches as it slings back in on itself. As someone who has written and is trying to currently publish a book about the ways our desire for new and past experiences can consume us, reading this book was a bit startling in the discovery that someone else knew what I knew, felt what I felt, regardless of the very marked differences of our lived experiences. I would place and recommend this book with the likes of Jay Ponteri's Wedlocked, Sheila Heti's Motherhood, and Jennifer Militello's Knock Wood.

[Emily Arnason Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gorgeous book with so many insights into the world of monogamy... within with such delicate balance and lush prose.

[Allison Renner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting, poetic memoir about self and marriage. I flagged so many beautiful, thought-provoking sections to go back to.

Disclaimer: I am the Publicity & Reviews Manager for Split/Lip Press, though I read and reviewed this memoir before taking on the position.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A contemplative, lyrical, sensual memoir that captures the irreconciliable tension between freedom and marriage/motherhood while drawing insight and beauty from the natural world.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, a collection of personal essays about music, wildness, sex, mothering, wilderness. Filled with tender moments that never felt contrived or belabored.

[Laurie Easter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous book written in lyrical prose. Searching essays that grapple with identity and desire in a no holds barred capacity. Lush descriptions of nature. Highly recommend.

[Cathie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this at Spellbinder Books while in Bishop, Ca where the author went to school. I was curious what a memoir in essays would be like. It was written in an entertaining way with a lot of poetry inspired/style essays mixed in with the heavier elements of her story . . . "I love him for many things: the weight of his heart; the evidence of his life on the folds of the skin near his eyes . . ."
It has nature elements related to her farm and what it is like where she lives. I really liked the Pirate-Radio chapter and how much she seemed to enjoy that comes through. A unique read for me and I enjoyed it.

[Split Lip Press · Rating 5 out of 5]

2021 OREGON BOOK AWARD FINALIST IN CREATIVE NONFICTION

We're Melissa's biggest fans! "Tracing the Desire Line" follows a writer's journey of opening her marriage with her husband. The story—told through short memoirs, essays, lists, letters, and hybrid prose poems—is an intimate inquiry into one woman’s search for autonomy with detours into meditations on music, motherhood, religion, love, and wildness. Blurbed by Jill Talbot, Cari Luna, Robin MacArthur, and Barbara Hurd, this memorable examination of partnership and love comes highly recommended by our team. Says Talbot, "For anyone whose wanting has always been too much, this is the book for you."