Not God: A Play in Verse

by Marc J. Straus

The tread of the nurses leaving the room next door tells the woman her neighbor has died. The language of the hospital is one she has unwillingly, painstakingly the rhythm of machines, the counting of pills, the measuring of words, the shadowy news of an MRI. And in these harrowing, eloquent poems, she opens this world, this language of illness, to us, revealing how deeply these words and rhythms are also the measure of life. The views of her doctor are also evocatively expressed--his anger, struggles, and hopes--as he speaks of the delicate bond he forms with his ill patients. Composed by a distinguished medical oncologist whose literary work has been performed in venues throughout the country, the poems of Not God document one woman's encounter with cancer, a journey through illness whose end, while inevitable, is also unknown. Alternating with the words of her doctor, these poems form a remarkable dialogue of the flesh becoming word, and of the body inventorying--and finally transcending--its limitations.

88 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2006

About the author

Marc J. Straus is the author of 4 poetry collections, 3 from Tri-Quarterly Northwestern University Press. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Robert Penn Warren Award in the Humanities from Yale. His poems have appeared in most of the leading literary journals in the U.S. He is an oncologist and former Chairman of Oncology and Professor of Medicine. He has authored some 100 scientific papers and edited three textbooks on lung cancer. He is the recipient of Boston’s Young Leader Award previously given to John F. Kennedy. Marc, and his wife Livia, have been avid collectors of contemporary art since age 20, focusing on new discoveries. Their collection has now had eleven museum exhibits and they are listed among the top collectors in the U.S. Marc lectures worldwide on building an art collection. He has written nearly 50 articles on art. In 2004 Marc and Livia founded Hudson Valley MOCA, a public museum in Peekskill, NY, one hour north of NYC, in an economically challenged multicultural community. HVMOCA has been the spark for the revitalization of the area. In 2011, Marc opened an art gallery on the Lower Eastside of Manhattan, MARC STRAUS, which represents 24 artists from 16 countries and is among the leading galleries today.

Reviews

[Danielle Mebert]

Haunting and reminiscent of the play Wit.