The Moon Makes Its Own Plea

The Moon Makes Its Own Plea is a departure from Mnookin’s previous books, What He Took and To Get Here. Rather than considering a single experience that transforms her perception of her world, in her new book Mnookin explores the idea of self and how that self is strengthened and abraded by relationships. Although the book is anchored in everyday life, the narrative is fluid, making greater use of associative thinking. The poems in this book coalesce around the condition of mortality—not a specific death, although these also occur in the poems, but the state of being mortal. 'I hold the grit of my life in my hands,' the author says in the title poem. What to do with that life is the question these poems probe with bravado and defiance, fear and anger, humor and hope.

PRAISE FOR THE MOON MAKES ITS OWN PLEA

"For holidays in interesting times, give the gift of a warm and joyful escape. . . . poetry lovers have a deluxe assortment to choose from [including] Wendy Mnookin's The Moon Makes Its Own Plea, filled with heart-snagging reflections on both family and solitariness."

—Vogue Magazine, "The Best Books to Give Everyone on Your List This Year," 2016

"The Moon Makes Its Own Plea gives us poems beautifully nuanced, reflecting life in all its ironies and mysteries, poignantly aware of the brevity that makes each moment vivid and crucial."

—Poetry Daily  

"Wendy Mnookin's poems arise both from the small joys and the larger reckonings of domestic existence. The poems understand how delight must commingle with heartbreak, and they proceed with a terseness and associative vigor that always makes the familiar strange—not for the sake of the easy tour de force, but as a means to arrive at the clarity and hard-won wisdom which these poems strive for and beautifully attain."

—David Wojahn

© BOA Editions, Ltd. 2008