Anatomic / Adam Dickinson.

Anatomic / Adam Dickinson.

By
Dickinson, Adam, 1974-

Publication Date
2018

Publication Information
Toronto : Coach House Books,

Physical Description
150 p. : ill., portrait.

Subject Term
Canadian poetry -- 21st century.
 
Medical screening.
 
Human beings -- Effect of environment on.
 
Health.

Genre
Poetry.

Bibliography Note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 145-148).

Summary
The poems of Anatomic have emerged from biomonitoring and microbiome testing on the author's body to examine the way the outside writes the inside, whether we like it or not. Adam Dickinson drew blood, collected urine, swabbed bacteria, and tested his feces to measure the precise chemical and microbial diversity of his body. To his horror, he discovered that our "petroculture" has infiltrated our very bodies with pesticides, flame retardants, and other substances. He discovered shifting communities of microbes that reflect his dependence on the sugar, salt, and fat of the Western diet, and he discovered how we rely on nonhuman organisms to make us human, to regulate our moods and personalities. Structured like the hormones some of these synthetic chemicals mimic in our bodies, this sequence of poems links the author's biographical details (diet, lifestyle, geography) with historical details (spills, poisonings, military applications) to show how permeable our bodies are to the environment. As Dickinson becomes obsessed with limiting the rampant contamination of his own biochemistry, he turns this chemical-microbial autobiography into an anxious plea for us to consider what we're doing to our world -- and to our own bodies.

Language
English

ISBN
9781552453643

General Note
Poems.


LibraryCollectionCollectionCall NumberStatus
Woody Point (WWP)Adult NFicAdult Non-Fiction819.1 D56Checked In