A random collection of over 1910 books and audiobooks authored by or about my transgender, intersex sisters, and gender-nonconforming persons all over the world. I read some of them, and I was inspired by some of them. I met some of the authors and heroines, some of them are my best friends, and I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing some of them. If you know of any transgender biography that I have not covered yet, please let me know.
I found an interesting review by Tom Paine: "This is the story of a man who is otherwise straight (heterosexual), but who likes to wear women's clothes and go out in public as a woman. It was told in twelve taped interviews in 1964. To my knowledge, it was the first book-length, a first-person memoir of its kind.
In the 1960s, a person who had the need or compulsion to express the opposite gender through clothes, grooming, and mannerisms was called a "transvestite," and the subject was little-understood and generally taboo. This was especially true with regard to men who desired to dress as women. "Leonard Wheeler" (not his real name) is a successful professional artist who works at a major advertising agency.
But when not working as a man, he enjoys dressing in women's clothes and has carefully developed and refined his female wardrobe, makeup technique, hairstyles (wigs), voice, and mannerisms, so that he presents in public as a strikingly attractive young woman. Her name is "Connie.""
1964,
English,
Larry Maddock,
Full title: "I Want to be a Woman!: The True Autobiography of Female Impersonator Gayle Sherman"
"Sherman started life as Gary Paradis, but became Sherman after a name change at age sixteen. As a transvestite she scored a job dancing for the Jewel Box Revue, which was a comedic drag queen show that criss-crossed the U.S. for more than thirty years. Probably the Jewel Box Revue deserves a write-up of its own, but the shorter version is it was the most popular extravaganza of its kind, and was run by gay management who were marketing to straight audiences.
Sherman moved on from the revue and worked mainly in Chicago, appearing at places such as the Nite Life, where her act sometimes involved dressing as a witch doctor and roasting a fake baby over a fire while singing Yma Sumac songs.
1964,
English,
Gayle Sherman,
Full title: "Sequel to 'I Changed my Sex!'" by Hedy Jo Star.
The book was published as a sequel to "I changed my sex!" (1955), the autobiography of Hedy Jo Star formerly Carl Hammonds.
Hedy Jo Star (1920-1999) was an American showgirl, costumier, and business woman. She was born Carl Rollins Hammonds in Prague, Oklahoma, the eldest of seven children. According to Zagria's blog, she grew small breasts as a teenager, and her mother took her to several doctors including a ‘brain specialist’, but her parents would not consent to exploratory surgery.
1964,
English,
Hedy Jo Star,
USA,
