A review by slamajak
Something That May Shock and Discredit You by Daniel M. Lavery

1.0

I had really wanted to like this book, I really had, but I ended up kind of hating myself for not being able to not finish a book and for not having the absolute intuition as to what books I would like because I had really thought this would be something I would enjoy, because this was honestly a really strenuous read. I sort of liked the bits in which the author talks straightforwardly about his transition & stuff, but the chapters that are really trying hard to be funny or whatever were honestly not doing it for me, and sort of a waste of time, whether it was going biblical or Mean Girls-y or whatever.

Aand yes, while the idea of sort of reimagining some Western canon stories from a trans perspective is smart (and yes, get ready from everything from Mean Girls to the Bible and Oedipus and Dante and Anne of Green Gables), how it's written didn't work for me, and I really didn't find most of it funny at all; the only thing that worked for me was the Jacob slash Israel thing.

The only two chapters that I really liked were "Marcus Aurelius Prepares for the New Year" and the interlude titled "Oh Lacanian Philosopher We Love You Get Up."

It's not often that I feel like a book was an utter waste of time for me, but this one unfortunately qualifies for that perfectly.