bell hooks
It’s time for me to come out… as a bookworm. In case you hadn’t already guessed, books are some of my favorite things. I thought I would share what comes to mind when I think about the books that shaped my understanding of gender and transgressing gender. So here, in no particular order, are the top ten books I would recommend to my fellow gender ninja bookworms out there:
The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity and Love, by bell hooks
When I read this book in college, it moved me deeply. It was the first thing to really reconcile my feminist world with my preferences to be seen as more of a dude, and how to be a feminist dude. This is something I continue to think about, and I continue to return to this book for insight.
Nina Here Nor There, by Nick Krieger
Nick takes us into the world of a San Francisco lesbian on his journey to becoming Nick. We get an insider look into Nick’s journey of negotiating his shifting identity with family, friends, and himself. This is an excellent trans-masculine narrative for a new generation of gender ninjas, and their moms. (I mean that literally– my mom read this too!)
Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides
Middlesex is just a beautiful, epic, complicated, heart-rending family saga and coming-of-age story about Cal (initially “Callie”), who is intersex, and Cal’s large Greek family, and the ideas of nature vs. nurture.
Stone Butch Blues, by Leslie Feinberg
I didn’t read this book until embarrassingly recently, when I was living in DC last year. While it’s a tremendously important book, it put me in quite a jittery funk for awhile afterward—scared to walk alone at night and über-aware of the dangers, even still, of being (or being perceived as) a non-normatively gendered person.
Written on the Body, by Jeanette Winterson
This book is a beautiful and poetic exploration of love, one that scored major brownie points with me for the ways it defies both genre and gender. Be prepared: it is somewhat heartbreaking.
Boy with Flowers, by Ely Shipley
ely shipley
This book of poems, Ely’s first, moved me for more than just its trans content. It helped me realize that as a trans person I could actually also be a rockin’ poet. Ely is a king of line breaks and memory. For more on Ely, you can check out this interview by Chris Vargas elsewhere on OP.
Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation, eds. Kate Bornstein and S. Bear Bergman
An updated version of the original anthology, this is a perfect example of how an anthology can be so vital simply through the sheer variety of what it contains. There are too many standouts to name, but a few of my favorites are “The Manly Art of Pregnancy” by j wallace, and a poem by Tamiko Beyer on Marsha P. Johnson, who was one of New York City’s best known drag queens and participated in the Stonewall Riots.
GenderQueer: Voices from Beyond the Sexual Binary, eds. Joan Nestle, Riki Wilchins and Clare Howell
I came upon this book in college and treasured it (by which I mean, I never returned it from the person I borrowed it from… sorry!). It is chock full of writers exploring the nuances between and beyond male and female.
Autobiography of Red, by Anne Carson
This novel in verse is another genius genre-bender of a book. In Carson’s contemporary retelling of the myth of Geryon and Herakles, the main character Geryon is a monster with red wings. From childhood Geryon is unlike the others, and I found him endlessly relatable.
Hardy Boys and the Secret of the Caves, Franklin W. Dixon
Okay, let me explain! I received this book, along with several other Hardy Boys books, for my debutante party this past summer. (I guess my friends all agreed that they are required reading for a new boy!) I felt like it was the kind of book I should read in a treehouse, but alas, I didn’t have a treehouse so I read it in a bubble bath instead. It has a rather meaty mystery, and although the entire thing is somewhat simplistic, it does give a good satisfying romp through a world of caves and stake-outs and mischief.
HAPPY READING!
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
When my mom found out about my gender fuckery, she said “I should have known- you were always reading books about girls who dressed up as boys.” Which, when I think about it, is totally true. My favorites as a pre-teen were the books by Tamora Pierce. Especially the “Lioness” series about a girl who wants to be a knight so dresses up as a boy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Song_of_the_Lioness
Thanks for the awesome suggestions!
Hi Mo, I missed out on that series, but it looks awesome. I loved your first post on here, by the way– looking forward to more!
Ah! Mo! I LOVED that series.
And Oliver, thanks so much for the primer =)
Hi! I’m a bookworm called Oliver too! I’ve read about half the books on your list, and will add some of the others to my to-read list. I just placed an interlibrary loan request for The Will To Change.
Have you read Transgender Warriors by Leslie Feinberg? I loved that one. Hermaphrodeities by Raven Kaldera is another favorite of mine.
Hi Oliver! Transgender Warriors is another great one. I hope you enjoy The Will to Change. I think it’s a really smart and important book.
The Riddle of Gender. I think its a must read at least once in your life.
Great list, Oliver! I look forward to checking these out. Another rec is “Annabel” by Kathleen Winter. Her writing is stunning, and it’s a bit like Middlesex set in Newfoundland.
oliver danni – way to rock that interlibrary loan! Go libraries!!
Thanks, Carrie! I’ll keep my eye out for “Annabel”– that’s a pretty compelling description.
Whoa, so many Olivers! Yay! I would recommend Canadian author S. Bear Bergman. Zir book ‘The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You’ is a series of thoughtful personal essays on gender, family, and social norms. Ze helped edit ‘Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation’ with Kate Bornstein so you know ze is cool.
Bear also wrote “butch is a noun” which is fantastic. Ivan Coyote’s short stories are also great for gender fuckery. A lot of the stories are about growing up gender variant and all that goes with that. Ivan is a skilled author.