Transitive Woman

Megan M. Doherty's Transitive Woman is one of those genuine books that, because of their utter shattering of convention, run the danger of never navigating the perilous tracks to publication. Fortunately for readers, this is one book that managed the voyage, and is now before us in all its provocative strangeness and wonder. Doherty chronicles a woman's life through several decades of American counterculture by mixing and blurring various genres, using the techniques of pastiche, collage, appropriation, and typography to create a surprisingly unbroken surface of narrative. Familiar figures traverse its landscape, Allen Ginsberg, among them, along with lesser known figures with no less intensity about their art and commitment to living an alternative to the bourgeois lifestyle and values of the twentieth century. Doherty's prose and poetry (along with samples of other works, particularly those of A. Fredric Franklyn) can be satisfyingly apt and accurate. ABOUT THE AUTHOR : A Canadian by birth, Megan M. Doherty came to the United States before her 10th birthday. She enjoys wearing many hats due to her diversified background. They include: production on little magazines; published poet; story editor in the film industry; technical writer; marketing executive; business owner; peace activist for women and the homeless; and being heavily involved in the anti-war movement as the wife of a 'beat' poet in the late '60s. As a member of Tebot Bach's Poetry and Healing Committee, she brought creative writing workshops to homeless shelters in Southern California. No newcomer to poetry, she has integrated her life experiences into a cohesive world view, providing a unique look at human frailty and strength in her first book Transitive Woman. She lives in Southern California with her husband Alex.