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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
I love the idea of this book but it got to a point where I felt too stupid to continue reading tbh. Like I didn’t know any part of what was going on anymore so I had to give up. I loved the religious allegories and niche references I could understand. I’m sorry to the trans gods 🙏🏻
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
challenging
slow-paced
touching reflections on transness, the horrible and wonderful predicament that is having a family, and comical breaks on the joys of transition. it drags a bit sometimes but it always find a new way to real you in
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
This is a great, thoughtful meditation on transness and identity with a refreshing approach to Christian scripture. Lavery's voice does get a little cloying at times--in the last few pages, I was kind of beginning to tire of what I think is best described as earnest pretension--but for the most part, it's great. Lovely to read as a trans person, but probably equally interesting to a sympathetic Christian or recovered Christian.
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
go read this book right fucking now I’m not kidding. SO good
this is fine, k might try to come back to it sometime. some parts of this were incredibly impactful and other parts made absolutely zero sense to me and the further i got, the more it started to make no sense.
funny
reflective
medium-paced
This book was a slog to get through at points, it got a little too pretentious, or maybe I just don’t like how it called me out. That’s what I get for reading esoteric trans bullshit essays. The esoteric bullshit was fun though and I laughed at several points and was drawn in by the use of Christian scripture and metaphors to relate to transness.
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Usually, I really enjoy and admire Daniel Lavery's writing - I've been a fan since The Toast and subscribe to the Chatner. Unfortunately, this collection of essays was tedious and not a good showcase for his work.
The first chapter, in which he draws analogies between transitioning and being Raptured, is compelling and eerie (in a good way). There are kernels of that throughout the book, but it ultimately feels like a series of disjointed, loosely connected stream-of-consciousness snippets. Some of these snippets are recycled/repurposed from his earlier work, but not in a way that felt like it enriched this book or did justice to the original. For example, Interlude III is called "Lord Byron Has a Birthday and Takes His Leave." It's an update of one of my favorite pieces from the Toast, "Lord Byron's Fare Thee Well." (https://the-toast.net/2017/07/26/lord-byrons-fare-thee-well-or-i-just-think-its-funny-how/). In this book, we have:
The first chapter, in which he draws analogies between transitioning and being Raptured, is compelling and eerie (in a good way). There are kernels of that throughout the book, but it ultimately feels like a series of disjointed, loosely connected stream-of-consciousness snippets. Some of these snippets are recycled/repurposed from his earlier work, but not in a way that felt like it enriched this book or did justice to the original. For example, Interlude III is called "Lord Byron Has a Birthday and Takes His Leave." It's an update of one of my favorite pieces from the Toast, "Lord Byron's Fare Thee Well." (https://the-toast.net/2017/07/26/lord-byrons-fare-thee-well-or-i-just-think-its-funny-how/). In this book, we have:
I JUST THINK IT’S REALLY FUNNY!
How someone who’s spent so much cumulative time
resting their head against my chest
could end up caring so little about the heart beating just underneath it!
Compare the version published on The Toast:
I JUST THINK IT’S REALLY FUNNY?
How someone who spent so much time
resting their head against my chest
could end up caring SO LITTLE about my heart.
I think The Toast version feels more direct, evocative, and interesting.
I think the repackaging of these old favorites feels intended to reach out to and convert new readers who aren't familiar with the author. Which is great, and of course a bunch of people should learn to love and appreciate him! But I feel like a lot of the book feels like it pre-supposes the reader knows something about his life, like his growing up in an evangelical family with a megapastor father. In some places it felt a bit hard to keep up, to me.
I think the repackaging of these old favorites feels intended to reach out to and convert new readers who aren't familiar with the author. Which is great, and of course a bunch of people should learn to love and appreciate him! But I feel like a lot of the book feels like it pre-supposes the reader knows something about his life, like his growing up in an evangelical family with a megapastor father. In some places it felt a bit hard to keep up, to me.