More Books

So I havent actually read this book myself, but a friend recommended it to me and i figured it seemed appropriate for this class. it's called Misfortune: A Novel by Wesley Stace



The story follows Rose Old, a boy who was abandoned as an infant and then raised as a girl by a rich man whose own daughter had died. The interesting part begins when, as one reviewer puts it:

Inevitably, the young Rose reaches adolescence and suddenly doesn't look or feel ladylike any more. As greedy relatives circle in their attempt to wrest control of the estate from Lord Loveall, Rose discovers his true gender and adoptive status. When he reveals himself as a male to society at large and to his predatory relatives, he causes a scandal that jeopardizes the legitimacy of his inheritance. He does not feel at home in his male body and continues to wear dresses, even while sporting a fine mustache. After Lord Loveall dies, his survivors struggle to keep their claim to the Loveall fortune while Rose sets out to discover his roots... and himself.
-Eileen Rieback

This book seems particularly interesting, both because of the issue of transgendered identities, but also the way the author treats the main character's identity. it is not a historical analysis of transgendered issues in 19th century London, it is a story about one person's adventure. Thus it must treat Rose's gender identity, not flippantly, but as an integral part of her without being a big deal. The concept reminds me a lot of Emma, the hermaphrodite in Fausto-Sterling's The Five Sexes, who appeared "to be quite content and even happy" (Young in Fausto-Sterling 70) during a time when the medical establishment viewed hermaphrodites as being automatically unhealthy and unhappy.

Lets bring this to some vaguely academic close: it is one thing for a journal on the subject of sex, written by someone who has done a lot of research and previous writings on the subject, to put forward the concept of gender loosing it's binary opposites in society. It is another, however, for a novel, written for people who may not have the same academic background as the people who would be reading a journal about gender, to have a main character with such a fluid gender orientation. do you think this is an indication of changing sentiments? an island of change in an otherwise unrelenting sea of tradition? nothing you would ever care about? talk to me.

The Kid

Lets talk about books!

So anyone from the Pacific Northwest should know the name of Dan Savage. If you dont just...just got find a respectable newspaper and read him or something, because i dont even want to describe how deprived your life must be. If you're not from the Pacific Northwest and you still know Dan Savage, good job.

ANYWAYS, mini bio, Dan Savage is an author and newspaper editor who i know mainly from his column Savage Love, which answers readers questions about sex in a very frank and humorous way. Dan has always concerned his writing with politics, culture, and homosexuality (i dont know if there's a genre for what he writes...it's not satire, but it's not political analysis either). He's a pretty controversial character, even in the gay community, but i adore him (my friends and i also stalk him around seattle coffee shops. good times.)

Dan and his (now husband, then boyfriend) Terry adopted a son in the early 2000s, and Dan chose to write a book about the experience. It's called The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant.



It's a very small book, and an easy read, which is why i would recommend it to anyone who is interested in adoption, gay marriage, legal rights of gay couples, lesbians, children, homeless teens, or just good memoirs. just go read the book.

The book is dedicated to his husband, Terry, but the whole thing is written as if his child were one day to read it. It's very sweet, and it gets into a lot of the controversy behind gay couples adopting. He talks about the fear of homosexuals and pedophilia, gay marriage, adoption policies (even pertaining to straight couples) and a whole slew of other issues. the really interesting part of the book is that it is not a book meant to educate; it's just one guy, writing because he has a word count to fill for his editor, talking about what his personal experiences have been. It's a very personal book (so personal that, at times, i felt like i was unfairly invading his life and i wanted to put the book down) but that's its charm.
This puts a face and a voice to the issue of the 'gay family', which is something a lot of political argument is missing. Opponents of gay rights talk about 'those gay people' and all 'their habits'. It's been observed, though, that many people are opposed to gay rights as a sort of default; they arent gay, they dont know anyone gay, so it doesnt really apply to them. If 'those gays' dont get to marry, who cares? it doesnt apply to them!
It has been observed, though, that when ambivalent opponents to gay rights meet gay people and talk to them or, better yet, realize someone they've known all their life is gay, their opinions change pretty fast. it's no longer 'those gay people' as a generalization, it's individual voices and lives. This book is just one of those voices, and its greatest quality is the humanity it brings to these issues.


go read it.