In the Name of the Body

A short and sharp book that combines intellectual density lyrical integrity and factuality that is almost cruel in its precision. A fascinating and thought-provoking read.- Maria Stepanova International Booker Prize shortlisted author of IN MEMORY OF MEMORY/In Alton Melvar M. Dapanas's IN THE NAME OF THE BODY: LYRIC ESSAYS multiple disciplines-theory cultural anthropology autobiography and lyric essay-dance together elegantly and pointedly forming a sequential meditation on gender and sexuality embodied in spare and unsentimental vignettes of memory. Dapanas punctures the painfully retrograde folie a deux of the clueless communities that cling to repressive ideals. That they do so in writing that is intellectually acute and graceful using formal play is a cause for celebration.- David Lazar author of OCCASIONAL DESIRE: ESSAYS and editor of ESSAYING THE ESSAY and TRUTH IN NONFICTION