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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Author Daniel Mallory Ortberg's continual process of trying on and discarding various metaphors to describe his experience with gender dysphoria and transition reminds me of Carmen Maria Machado's masterful In the Dream House, which adopts a similar approach to the topic of domestic abuse. And those parts of this memoir work really well for me, but there's a lot here that feels rather extraneous to Ortberg's own life, with extended riffs on pop culture or scripture and other classical texts that don't always seem wholly relevant. Given that range of topics, I wish this book were structured more like a traditional essay collection, so that I could more easily point to the parts I do and don't like.
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
this book cemented daniel lavery as one of my all time favorite authors. what a wonderfully weird and beautiful book! I heartily recommend the audiobook - lavery reads it himself and the personality that comes through is both touching and hilarious.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
The most gender affirming thing I've ever read.
I'm rating this 4 stars but that doesn't mean you should read this. Let me explain:
Ortberg (now Lavery) is ridiculously smart and witty in ways that blow my mind. I wish I knew him in real life and only aspire to have his knowledge of classics and ability to satirize them so humorously (though admittedly the humor is at times too crass for my taste). Also there were times I *thought* we (Daniel and I) were in the middle of a humorous, satirical, self-deprecating essay together when I would realize there was actually something profound, spiritual, and sometimes very very sad underpinning all of his humor.
As for the essays themselves....
This collection is mostly about the author's (self-described) rapid onset dysphoria / gender transition (FtM) mashed with the Bible +/or a smattering of literary classics/pop culture references (esp. William Shatner and T4T relationship theories). I say this because this should give you a good idea of whether this book is for you. (My guess is it's not. It's not really for me either, but I read it anyway. But if it is for you, then you are in for a delight. More information on whether it's for you at the end of this rambling review).
Having studied the Bible as a spiritual text for most of my life, the mash up of biblical stories with the author's trans-thoughts/feelings was very interesting to me. I could see some readers being overwhelmed if they are not familiar with the Bible or if they typically read it literally. For others I expect they will be somewhat offended by its reimagination through a trans lens. I wasn't sure myself at times, but I enjoyed the exploration overall and am still processing many of the ideas.
There were a few sections that were truly undecipherable / too experimental for me. This doesn't happen very often to me but it's good to be humbled :)
If you are a lit-geek (and somewhat familiar with the Bible and Greek classics) and interested in one individual's experience (ideas & feelings -wise, not the actual medical/social steps) of transitioning, then I think you would enjoy this collection.
Contains: Profanity and sexual humor, Religious satire that some may find offensive.
Ortberg (now Lavery) is ridiculously smart and witty in ways that blow my mind. I wish I knew him in real life and only aspire to have his knowledge of classics and ability to satirize them so humorously (though admittedly the humor is at times too crass for my taste). Also there were times I *thought* we (Daniel and I) were in the middle of a humorous, satirical, self-deprecating essay together when I would realize there was actually something profound, spiritual, and sometimes very very sad underpinning all of his humor.
As for the essays themselves....
This collection is mostly about the author's (self-described) rapid onset dysphoria / gender transition (FtM) mashed with the Bible +/or a smattering of literary classics/pop culture references (esp. William Shatner and T4T relationship theories). I say this because this should give you a good idea of whether this book is for you. (My guess is it's not. It's not really for me either, but I read it anyway. But if it is for you, then you are in for a delight. More information on whether it's for you at the end of this rambling review).
Having studied the Bible as a spiritual text for most of my life, the mash up of biblical stories with the author's trans-thoughts/feelings was very interesting to me. I could see some readers being overwhelmed if they are not familiar with the Bible or if they typically read it literally. For others I expect they will be somewhat offended by its reimagination through a trans lens. I wasn't sure myself at times, but I enjoyed the exploration overall and am still processing many of the ideas.
There were a few sections that were truly undecipherable / too experimental for me. This doesn't happen very often to me but it's good to be humbled :)
If you are a lit-geek (and somewhat familiar with the Bible and Greek classics) and interested in one individual's experience (ideas & feelings -wise, not the actual medical/social steps) of transitioning, then I think you would enjoy this collection.
Contains: Profanity and sexual humor, Religious satire that some may find offensive.
This book called me out in ways I was not expecting. The author really knows how to portray the struggle and inner turmoil of making such a big decision and at the sometime making you laugh. It definitely helped me identify my own fears and feelings around T. Foi terapêutico mesmo :D