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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
This book will remain on my nightstand and I will reread it over and over, clinging to it like a life raft until I make it through the next few years. Maybe then I’ll have something more coherent to say about it too.
I could not wait to get my hands on this collection, and I'm so grateful to Edelweiss, the publisher, and the author for an early copy!
I love Daniel Mallory Ortberg's work in general, especially Dear Prudence. This is totally different from his other work, but I absolutely loved it. Along with observations about his transition, Ortberg covers lots of new ground here, with poetry, prose, and reflections on William Shatner (my favorite essay). This is a bingeable collection. I am sad to wait until February to share it with my patrons!
I love Daniel Mallory Ortberg's work in general, especially Dear Prudence. This is totally different from his other work, but I absolutely loved it. Along with observations about his transition, Ortberg covers lots of new ground here, with poetry, prose, and reflections on William Shatner (my favorite essay). This is a bingeable collection. I am sad to wait until February to share it with my patrons!
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
As a fan of Daniel M. Lavery’s since his days writing for The Toast (a marvelous, now-defunct website featuring thinkpieces on the intersections of identity and pop culture, an interview series with people who have changed religions, and many thriving literary humor columns, including “Literary Ladies Cage Fight”), I really wish I liked this book more.
The best parts of it deliver Lavery’s typical brilliant insight (this time mostly about his experience as a trans man who realized he was trans in his early thirties), along with his specific-enough-to-be-a-little-awkward brand of humor. One of my favorite essays was a very short piece on his favorite kinds of “vibes” given off by other men - it’s full of sweet longing to feel accepted as a man, but in a way that completely rejects toxic masculinity. Boys will be boys, in the very best way. I also loved one of the final literary riffs (which Lavery is famous for; they’re scattered throughout the essays here) in which Lavery imagines how the Avonlea women would take it if Anne Shirley came out as a trans man.
One reason I’m not very enthusiastic about this collection is the over-the-top wordiness of most of these essays. Lavery’s a great short-form writer, but I think he needed more careful editing to expand his ideas into longer pieces. The literary parodies also felt a little tired, but maybe that’s because I’ve been reading Lavery’s stuff for so long that I’ve seen most of his tricks before. Though I’m sorry I didn’t enjoy this as much as I wanted, I’d recommend this to lovers of literary humor who are also interested in the perspective of someone who realized they were trans a bit later in life.
The best parts of it deliver Lavery’s typical brilliant insight (this time mostly about his experience as a trans man who realized he was trans in his early thirties), along with his specific-enough-to-be-a-little-awkward brand of humor. One of my favorite essays was a very short piece on his favorite kinds of “vibes” given off by other men - it’s full of sweet longing to feel accepted as a man, but in a way that completely rejects toxic masculinity. Boys will be boys, in the very best way. I also loved one of the final literary riffs (which Lavery is famous for; they’re scattered throughout the essays here) in which Lavery imagines how the Avonlea women would take it if Anne Shirley came out as a trans man.
One reason I’m not very enthusiastic about this collection is the over-the-top wordiness of most of these essays. Lavery’s a great short-form writer, but I think he needed more careful editing to expand his ideas into longer pieces. The literary parodies also felt a little tired, but maybe that’s because I’ve been reading Lavery’s stuff for so long that I’ve seen most of his tricks before. Though I’m sorry I didn’t enjoy this as much as I wanted, I’d recommend this to lovers of literary humor who are also interested in the perspective of someone who realized they were trans a bit later in life.
DNF 11%
Way too much direct quoting from the bible. Very tangential.
Way too much direct quoting from the bible. Very tangential.
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
reflective
slow-paced
This exceeds 3 stars on the strength of the House Hunters and parallel parking essays alone. The anxious vulnerability has always been welcome from Daniel Lavery & the best parts of this book took me back to his favorite pieces. He is an enneagram 6 I am sure of it and so I will forgive a few too many New Testament quotes in parts.
this book helped me admit to wanting things i had had trouble voicing desire for in the past. it's very earnest and i adore it.
This collection of essays is a surprise in so many ways. Besides exploring his trans history and present, there's really excellent writing on other topics as well. I learned new things - including, unexpectedly, things about the movies The Jerk and Destry Rides Again (which is what Blazing Saddles is based on).
funny
reflective
slow-paced