A review by abbie_
Can the Monster Speak?: A Report to an Academy of Psychoanalysts by Paul B. Preciado

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

When I read An Apartment on Uranus, I knew immediately that Paul B. Preciado is 10000 x smarter than I am. I went into Can the Monster Speak? knowing this, yet still felt way out of my depth. Despite being much shorter, since Uranus was an essay collection there were some essays that felt more within my grasp. This book is a furious missive, with all of Preciado's anger fuelled at a room of psychoanalysts who view him, a trans man, as a person suffering a mental illness. I believe Preciado originally gave this speech at a psychology conference but was literally booed off stage before he could finish. That in itself should tell you that psycoanalysis is in need of complete overhaul. 

My favourite part was Preciado talking about his transition as escaping one set of boundaries only to be hemmed in by a brand new set living life as a man. Gender really is some fuckery. 

A lot of it did go over my head, and would probably benefit from a reread plus some further reading to grasp fully. 
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