The Dottery

by Kirsten Kaschock

The Dottery is a tale of dotters before they are born. In this series of prose poems you meet their would-be-mutters, the buoys they will know, their inner warden, and the mutterers who cannot have them. The Dottery itself is a sort-of pre-purgatory, a finishing school for the fetal feminine. The five sections correspond to the conceptual set-ups interrogated within. In “wound,” The Dottery is described, as are its inhabitants and their difficulties. In “Dual,” a gender binary is introduced and (hopefully) eviscerated.  “Triage” establishes the issues that plague both the dotters and those who would bring them out into the world―specifically into the idea of America (I’m Erica and I can prefer a hummer to the rose parade”). In “Fear,” failed dotters (out in the world) are described in obit fashion. Finally, in “Thief” one mutterer recounts how she stole her dotter (“a snatched piece”) to become a mutter and chronicles both her desires and regrets.

Genres: Poetry

88 pages, Paperback

First published September 17, 2014

About the author

Award winning author Kirsten Kaschock is a poet and novelist who writes across genres. Her background in dance has impacted her work—she consistently addresses intersections between language and body. The author of seven poetry books, she has received fellowships from the Pew Foundation, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Vermont Studio Center, Subcircle, and the Summer Literary Seminars. Coffee House Press published her debut speculative novel—Sleight. She has lived in Iowa, New York, Georgia, and Maryland—and currently resides in Northeast Pennsylvania with her partner. Her work has been called “gothic and intense,” “as fascinating as it is disturbing,” and “inventive and exhilarating.” As Cheryl Strayed once noted: “There isn’t anyone like any single one of us, but the way there is no one like Kirsten Kaschock is a different thing.”

Reviews

[D.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inventive & exhilarating, Kirsten Kaschock's The Dottery tells the story of mutters and dotters in fresh, bracingly original language. Dolls, surrogates, goldie (who 'was lock, lock, locked') and mannequins play out this keen allegory of gender in ways that are both astonishing and terrifying. Kaschock is an alchemist—you will be changed.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is amazing on a language level. And concept. And I flagged at least a dozen poems to go back to later. But there was something that didn't grab me in my guts, and I can't put my finger on it. It's totally possible it's me right now, as I am beyond exhausted.

[Sian Griffiths · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some weekends, you pause from chain-reading novels and treat yourself to the book of poetry you bought yourself three months ago.

I opened Kaschock's book and read

CONTENTS
1. wound
2. duel
3. triage
4. fear
5. thief

Wound? I thought. Like "I wound my watch" or "you have wounded me." Then, duel, or dual, because, yes, there is a dual meaning here and they are battling it out. Triage--wait, three. And dual for two, wound one. So of course fear is four and thief five--but there's more than numerical progression here. There's narrative. The contents of the book and of a body.

In such ways was my mind blown--and this was only the table of contents! The book itself is no less playful, no less smart or dark or damaged or redeeming. The Dottery is a book about women--mutters and daughters--and the buoys they love, sometimes in spite of themselves.

Kaschock writes,

Underestimate no intellect of no reader, dilute no
message. Don't have messages.

which reads as the collection's guiding manifesto.

I want to quote more passages--"whores to what her" to show the homophonic delight! or something longer to show the flirtations with narrative "One day, because she knew what to look for, she met another just like her. Naturally, they had a contest--who could be the most damaged. It was more complicated than that, however. You see, physical is only surface, of this the two were aware--the mind-body split was in fact a favorite. It was one of a number of splits they shared, including a banana at Dairy Queen because, despite being brutally pitted, they were their only friends."

...but I fear that even as I do, I'm failing to give the scope of this book, its range of poems, modes, and cleverness. Its heart.

[J Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book! Loved chapter 4, Dotter sounds like daughter, I finally get it! :)