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.
Original title: "Otokode mo naku on'nade mo naku ― hontō no watashirashi-sa o motomete" 男でもなく女でもなく―本当の私らしさを求めて (Neither a man nor a woman - Seeking true me) by Tsutamori Tatsuru 蔦森 樹.
From a GI cut motorcyclist to a woman who wears a light blue dress handmade by her mother. The author runs through the two genders and reaches the “I” that lies beyond that. This book describes the trajectory of the author who sincerely confronted what “man” is and what is “woman.”
Nowadays, gender crossing is regarded as a problem of the disease called “gender identity disorder,” and it is not regarded as a gender (gender) problem in society. However, the author's vivid light of struggle against gender still illuminates the darkness of the gender dichotomy that has not disappeared.
1993,
Japanese,
Tsutamori Tatsuru,
Full title: "The Other Side 1972-1992" by Nan Goldin. The book was published in 1993 and 2019.
"Ever since the early 1970s Goldin has lived with and among drag queens, documenting both their glamour and their struggles.
The Other Side is her very personal declaration of love and gratitude to these drag queens, who showed her a way out of the captivity of pre-packaged, socially prescribed identity. As she put it: "The pictures in this book are not of people suffering gender dysphoria but rather expressing gender euphoria... The people in these pictures are truly revolutionary; they are the real winners in the battle of the sexes because they have stepped out of the ring".
1993,
English,
Kim Harlow,
Nan Goldin,
Full title: "Beyond Belief: The Discovery of My Existence" by Christina M. Hollis.
The only review of this book is available on the website of Dallas Denny. I had the pleasure of interviewing her in 2014.
Let me quote the excerpt from her review: "Dr. Hollis’ book consists of journal entries, beginning with the onset of crossdressing late in her life and culminating in the immediate post-operative period. For many of the entries, she annotates the text with notes describing her feelings and the circumstances at the time she wrote. The entries span several years of rapidly escalating crossdressing and her quest for sex reassignment."
1993,
Christina M. Hollis,
English,
Full title: "A Tale of Two Sexes: The Story of a Transformation" by Carolyne Jayne Munroe.
Unfortunately, I could not find any information about this publication and the author. If you have read the book or you could share some information about it, please let me know.
1993,
Carolyne Jayne Munroe,
English,
Original title: "Les transexuel(le)s" (Transsexuals) by Jane Hervé and Jeanne Lagier.
Who are transsexuals? What differentiates them from transvestites? Where does their unshakeable conviction of belonging to the opposite sex come from? Tragic heroes in spite of themselves, they lead a Titan fight in terrible solitude that does not break their loved ones or society. Yet they want only one thing: to acquire the body of their mind.
Men became women, women became men, and they confided in Jane Hervé and Jeanne Lagier. Doctors, psychiatrists, and lawyers also provide their answers. This book transports us to a world where the myth, thanks to the advances in surgery in the second half of the twentieth century, has become reality. Beyond our doubts and appearances, what is the daily existence of these 1000 to 2000 people in France, who want to live according to their desire?
1993,
French,
Jane Hervé,
Jeanne Lagier,
"Conundrum: Mein Weg vom Mann zur Frau" (Conundrum: My journey from man to woman) is the 1993 German language edition of "Conundrum" by Jan Morris. In 2020, the book was republished with the following title: "Rätsel: Betrachtung einer Wandlung" (Riddle: consideration of a transformation).
I found this nice intro on Goodreads: "The great travel writer Jan Morris was born James Morris. James Morris distinguished himself in the British military, became a successful and physically daring reporter, climbed mountains, crossed deserts, and established a reputation as a historian of the British empire. He was happily married, with several children. To all appearances, he was not only a man, but a man’s man."
1993,
Georges Burou,
German,
Jan Morris,
Full title: "I was a White Slave in Harlem" by Margo Howard-Howard and Abbe Michaels.
"Margo Howard-Howard details her sometimes intimate, sometimes violent encounters with James Dean, Andy Warhol, Jackie Curtis, Truman Capote, Tallulah Bankhead, Queen Elizabeth II and many other personalities.
As described here, they give a glimpse of the wild career of New York's premier drag queen. Funny, outrageous, and compassionate, Margo Howard-Howard thrived in the world Tama Janowitz and Jay McInerney only dream about."
1993,
Abbe Michaels,
English,
Margo Howard-Howard,
USA,
Original title: "Ich bin zwei: Ein Gespräch über Literatur und das Leben zwischen den Geschlechtern" (I'm two: A conversation about literature and life between the sexes) by Waltraud Schiffels.
In the early 90s, Waldtraud Schiffels was one of the most famous trans women in Germany. In this book, she talks about literature. "Waltraud, is there anything you have to say to both sexes as a transsexual?"
"Yes, that they have to speak very different languages and learn to listen to each other, to accept each other and to treat each other more humanely. It is precisely this difference that I have experienced so closely."
In the book, Waltraud Schiffels comments on topics such as transsexuality, man-woman relationships, drugs, literature, education, politics, etc.
1993,
German,
Waltraud Schiffels,
"Skok anioła" is the Polish language edition of "Le Saut de l'ange" (The Leap of the Angel) by Maud Marin, the first biography of Maud Marin.
'Is it possible to imagine the life of a man who hates his sex? The book is a terrifying diary of a person whose stigma of otherness casts a shadow over her whole life. The family does not "see" the problem. They stubbornly claim that Maud is a male person, despite the fact that she is more and more boldly declaring her femininity. Such behavior leads Maud to descend into the darkness of nightlife on the street - sex work and the criminal underworld.
After many years of humiliation, Maud manages to change gender. But this is only the beginning of the battle for a dignified life. After all, you have to change your birth certificate, get a job, arrange your life like a normal woman. Will she succeed?'
1993,
Maud Marin,
Polish,
Full title: "Nine Lives: The Autobiography of Erica Rutherford"
"For fifty years, internationally respected artist Erica Rutherford, who was born a male, struggled with the conviction that she was the wrong gender. At the age of fifty, she finally made the decision to live her life as a woman.
Erica Rutherford's story is much more than a recounting of that basic struggle with gender. Her constant searching led her to embrace change and intensity of experience, and her story is peopled with a fascinating cast of characters- actor Dirk Bogarde, director Orson Welles, stage designer Oliver Messel, architect Marcel Breurer, and a host of others.
She has lived on several continents and nurtured careers that have varied from film producer to farmer. Now in her seventies and living on Prince Edward Island, Canada, Erica continues her work as an artist and author.
Erica Rutherford's life is one that, above all, eloquently affirms the variety and vitality of human possibility."
1993,
English,
Erica Rutherford,
Full title: "Dangerous Games" by Robert L. Bentley.
The book is about Leslie Elaine Perez (1938-2005), born Leslie Douglas Ashley. She was a convicted murderer who took part in the murder of Fred Tones, a Houston-based real estate broker. She did it with Carolyn Lima. They were both working as prostitutes at the time of the murder. She was convicted and sentenced to death but her sentence was reduced to 15 years, and in the end, she served five.
After five years of chopping cotton in Texas prison farms, she was released, and soon after she underwent a gender reassignment surgery. At the beginning of the 1970s, she became a leader in the gay community of Houston and got involved in US politics, which lead to her being elected to local office in Texas.
1993,
English,
Robert L. Bentley,
