This Is the Door

Name: This Is the Door
Price: 42.99 AUD
Availability: OutOfStock
ISBN: 9781838859435

Notes from a Body in Pain

Darcey Steinke

$42.99

Hardback

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English

Canongate Books
26 February 2026

Memoirs; Literary essays; Society & culture: general; Pain & pain management

'This Is the Door is a work of piercing grace, philosophical wisdom and rare emotional power. By tracing the history of her own body and spirit, as well as studying the suffering of others, Steinke shows us how physical pain and spiritual faith inform and influence each other. This is a work of art that could only have emerged from the crucible of truth. It's absolutely beautiful' - ELIZABETH GILBERT

In This Is the Door, acclaimed author Darcey Steinke explores the agony and ecstasy of pain in its many forms. She takes readers through the archives and across oceans; she walks the tightrope between suffering and rapture, explores her own pain and that of a multitude of creatives characters from Frida Kahlo to Kurt Cobain.

Her journey reveals a series of questions. Does pain educate? Is pain always a physical experience of negation? How does pain push us to another level of creativity? What can we learn from wounding, from winnowing, from the stillness, the de-creation that intense pain brings? Whether it is the physical pain of an injury or illness, or the mental pain of heartache or loneliness, pain is an experience shared by all of us.

This Is the Door is a celebration of what the body can endure, and what it can achieve.

By: Darcey Steinke
Imprint: Canongate Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: Main
Dimensions: Height: 220mm, Width: 141mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 395g
ISBN: 9781838859435
ISBN 10: 1838859438
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 26 February 2026
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Darcey Steinke is the author of multiple works of non-fiction and novels, including her most recent memoir, Flash Count Diary. Her books have been translated into ten languages and her nonfiction has appeared widely, including in the Times, New York Times and Paris Review. She has taught at Columbia University, New York University and the American University of Paris. She lives with her husband in Brooklyn. @steinkedarcey | darceysteinke.com | darceysteinke.substack

Reviews for This Is the Door: Notes from a Body in Pain

It's a blessing to live while Darcey Steinke is writing, as THIS IS THE DOOR makes abundantly clear. Kurt Cobain, Audre Lorde, Nietzsche, Simone Weil, the author's father - all are here, along with many more, in a tapestry that makes the reader feel less alone in embodied life, here rendered as both excruciating and holy. * * Maggie Nelson * *