Reviews

Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg

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nancyboy56's review against another edition

5.0

what more is there to say that hasnt already been said? i believe this must be one of, if not the, most influential transgender novel ever written. it has changed that many transgender lives.

including me. this book changed my life. it will continue to change my life forever and always. nothing has made me feel more represented as a transmasc butch.

when someone doesnt really understand who i am, i tell them to read stone butch blues. i couldnt explain it better myself.

thereserose's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

5.0

zmossie's review against another edition

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dark hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

deeply thoughtful queer coming of age pseudo-memoir, feinburg calls attention to the intricacies of the queer identity— and as a lesbian myself, the gender theory in the book is perhaps some of the most powerful and close to home.

ejkimberley's review against another edition

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5.0

A truly phenomenal and incredibly important text which spoke to me in ways I did not expect it to. I suppose that as a femme transgender woman, I thought this would not quite be up my alley, or at least a perspective from which it was difficult for me to understand the world. But this was a profoundly evocative and emotional look at how lesbian and GNC people survived the incredible hardships and depredations of decades past, which is incredibly honest about our fallibility and indeed often our brokenness and need for healing, in the face of those challenges.

This is a book I will always carry with me in spirit, as a motivation towards survival and a reminder of the importance of, sometimes, being vulnerable, even when we simultaneously depend on the walls we set up, with which to confront and survive a sometimes threatening world.

It is, on a broader level, a beautiful interweaving of the need to share one's lived experience (i.e., that of Feinberg), and tell the story of queer history (through the stories and historical shifts and events Feinberg brings into her narrative).