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: "Vom Fresko zum Straps: Ein Leben" (From fresco to suspenders: One life.) by Petra Dorén."I have known Petra Dorén from the stage for about fifteen years and began to work as a journalist about her in 1992. During our interviews for various journal publications, we discovered similarities. The idea for this book was born in 1993 during a visit to the theatre to see Brecht's Threepenny Opera. Helen Vita as buccaneer Jenny broke the ice: Petra told me about her cabaret colleague with whom I had an interview appointment for the next day."You could write a book about my life. I di
1994,
Crossdressing,
German,
Petra Dorén,
""I'll tell you... I'm not a woman", confesses Kim Harlow in this collaborative autobiography, a project with photographer Bettina Rheims. Kim was a model of Bettina Rheims in her book Modern Lovers and the central figure in Les Espionnes, and she was born a man. She died as a woman in Paris in 1992 from AIDS. This book is with Kim, but also by Kim. She had started writing about her life and why and how she decided to become a woman.""Harlow was unable to finish her story. Her last lines are about a friend of hers who fell to AIDS. And it was that illness that cut short this work, her work. S
1994,
Bettina Rheims,
English,
Kim Harlow,
"La persistencia de la memoria: Una biografía personal de Salvador Dalí" is the Spanish language edition of "Persistence of Memory: A Personal Biography of Salvador Dali", an American re-edition of "Le Dalí d'Amanda" (Amanda's Dalí).Amanda Lear (born 1939) is a French singer, television celebrity, actress, and model, known for her professional career as a fashion model in the mid-1960s and being a muse of Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí. The book tells about her relationship with Salvador Dalí and presents detailed insights into the 15 years of their relationship.According to Wikipe
1994,
Amanda Lear,
April Ashley,
Georges Burou,
Mexico,
Romy Haag,
Spanish,
Original title: "Πρινσέζα" (Princess) by Fernanda Farias de Albuquerque and Maurizio Jannelli. The book is the Greek language edition of "Princesa" published in Italian in 1994.According to Wikipedia, Fernanda Farias de Albuquerque (1963–2000), known as Princesa, was a Brazilian transgender woman. Born in the Brazilian countryside, she grew up without her father in a family with economic difficulties. At the age of seven, she is the victim of sexual abuse and later she leaves home. After a brief period as a kitchen assistant, she begins to prostitute herself in the big Brazilian cities,
1994,
Fernanda Farias de Albuquerque,
Greek,
"Stephanie z muže ženou: Autobiografie transsexuála" (Stephanie From Male to Female: The Autobiography of a Transsexual) is the Czech language edition of "Stephanie: A Girl in a Million" (1988) by Stephanie Anne Lloyd."This is Stephanie’s autobiography. It tells the story of Stephanie Anne Lloyd, the founder of Transformation and one of the first openly transgender women to speak out about the struggles and achievements of someone who is openly transgender.At the age of 68, I have lived just over 50% of my life as a woman and the other half as a man. If women knew how much easier it is for me
1994,
Czech,
Stephanie Anne Booth,
Stephanie Anne Lloyd,
Full title: "Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women, and the Rest of Us" by Kate Bornstein. The revised edition of the book was published in 2016."Gender Outlaw is the work of a woman who has been through some changes--a former heterosexual male, a one-time Scientologist, and IBM salesperson, now a lesbian woman writer and actress who makes regular rounds on the TV (so to speak) talk shows.In her book, Bornstein covers the "mechanics" of her surgery, everything you've always wanted to know about gender (but were too confused to ask) addresses the place and politics of the transgendered and interrogates
1994,
English,
Interview,
Kate Bornstein,
USA,
Original title: "Les chevaux de frise couraient sur l'hippodrome" (The Frisian horses ran on the hippodrome). The book was the first autobiography written by Ovida Delect.A transsexual teenager, under the Nazi occupation, brought up in a religious college for boys, in Caen, questions the conditions she has to undergo... Autobiography of a former deportee-resistant, tortured at the age of 17 years old, founder of a youth resistance group. She contrasts the concrete or conceptual hells with a living infinity of flowers, dresses, and stars.According to Wikipedia, Ovida Delect (1926-1996) was a F
1994,
French,
Ovida Delect,
Original title: "Appelez-Moi Gina" (Call me Gina) by Georgine Noël.He or she? He then She? Changing sex, being born a man and becoming a woman? Or finally be what we have always been? Here is the story of the most amazing adventures experienced. On April 25, 1975, Doctor Georges Noël woke up in his hospital bed knowing that this was the end of a long and painful journey. From now on there is only Georgine Noël, Gina for close friends. But what terrible ordeals she had to pass!When nature, family, and society have decreed otherwise, what to do with the fundamental mismatch between one's deepes
1994,
Belgium,
French,
Georgine Noël,
Full title: "Just Julia: The Story of an Extraordinary Woman" by Julia Grant. Her first biography "George and Julia" was published in 1980."In 1981 George Roberts underwent a sex-change operation and became Julia Grant, but after emergency treatment things started to go drastically wrong. Beginning with a traumatic childhood of abuse, prostitution and crime, culminating in a series of prison sentences, and then following the futile attempts to come to terms with a male body, this book goes beyond the New English Library publication "George and Julia", and recounts what happened after the unsu
1994,
English,
Julia Grant,
UK,
"Ik ben mijn eigen vrouw: Een leven" (I am my own wife: A life) is the Dutch language edition of "Ich bin meine eigene Frau" (1992) by Charlotte von Mahlsdorf."A soft-spoken transvestite wanting nothing more than to live as a hausfrau, Charlotte von Mahlsdorf instead was caught up in the most harrowing dramas of 20th century Europe, surviving both the Nazis and the Communists.I Am My Own Wife is her exquisitely written autobiography where she reveals her lifelong pursuit of sexual liberty. The memoirs of a transvestite Berliner, the story of the wonderful Gründerzeit museum, a look at German
1994,
Charlotte von Mahlsdorf,
Crossdressing,
Dutch,
Original title: "Messer im Traum: Transsexualuelle in Deutschland" (Knife in a dream: Transsexuals in Germany) by Holde-Barbara Ulrich."The book presents transsexual life stories with texts and photos, it was published in 1994 by Konkursbuch-Verlag.
The author Holde-Barbara Ulrich and the photographer Thomas Karsten portray 13 transsexual people, 10 trans women and 3 trans men, aged 24 to 64 years on almost 170 pages.In the foreword, we can read:
We have chosen thirteen of the exciting life stories in words and pictures for the volume because we believe that they are exemplary for many othe
1994,
German,
Holde-Barbara Ulrich,
"He Did It Her Way: Carlotta, Legend of Les Girls" by Carlotta and James Cockington is the first biography of Carlotta. The second biography "Carlotta: I'm Not That Kind of Girl" was published in 2003."For 26 years from 1963, Carlotta was the undisputed Queen of Kings Cross - the legend of Les Girls, a landmark theatre restaurant where all the women on stage were really drag queens. This is a fascinating and often hilarious journey into her world as a performer and transexual who started life as a Balmain boy and went on to have one of the first sex change operations in Australia."According t
1994,
Australia,
Carlotta,
English,
James Cockington,
Original title: "Det gyldne menneske" (The Golden Man) bt Regitze Falk."Under the name Regitze Falk, Toni Mygdal-Meyer wrote the book about what it was like at the age of 40 to openly step out into the world as a transvestite and about living an everyday life as a lesbian husband with a wife and daughter.Regitze Falk steps out into the world – fully clothed and with perfect make-up – at forty-some. Until then, she wore only men's clothing and a male name. She is married and the father of a daughter and feels good about it.
Her book about this late birth is a step-by-step, almost day-by-day de
1994,
Danish,
Regitze Falk,
Original title: "Princesa" (Princess) by Fernanda Farias de Albuquerque and Maurizio Jannelli. The was published in 1994 and republished in the Italian language in 1997.According to Wikipedia, Fernanda Farias de Albuquerque (1963–2000), known as Princesa, was a Brazilian transgender woman. Born in the Brazilian countryside, she grew up without her father in a family with economic difficulties. At the age of seven, she is the victim of sexual abuse and later she leaves home. After a brief period as a kitchen assistant, she begins to prostitute herself in the big Brazilian cities, adopting
1994,
Fernanda Farias de Albuquerque,
Italian,
Full title: "My Husband Wears My Clothes: Crossdressing from the Perspective of a Wife" by Peggy J. Rudd. The book was published in 1994 and republished in 2003."My Husband Wears My Clothes is the first book to be written by the wife of a crossdresser. "Clothes don't make the man" has a new meaning. Dr. Rudd addresses many of the questions frequently asked by the spouses, families, and friends of men who cross gender lines and candidly explores the related emotions that range from frustration to elation.""The publication has become the number one book on the unique topic of crossdressing and
1994,
English,
Peggy J. Rudd,
"L'Amant Dalí: Ma vie avec Salvador Dalí" (The Lover Dalí: My life with Salvador Dalí) is another book by Amandra Lear, following her first book "Le Dalí d'Amanda" (Amanda's Dalí).Amanda Lear (born 1939) is a French singer, television celebrity, actress, and model, known for her professional career as a fashion model in the mid-1960s and being a muse of Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí. The book tells about her relationship with Salvador Dalí and presents detailed insights into the 15 years of their relationship.According to Wikipedia, Amanda's transgender background was confirmed by
1994,
Amanda Lear,
April Ashley,
French,
Georges Burou,
Romy Haag,
Full title: "Drag: A History of Female Impersonation on the Stage" by Roger Baker.I found the following review by Mark Edward: "This book is a good read overall. The book is a historical journey of drag and written in a specific era (the 1960s), which the reader needs to be mindful of, especially on the writings of trans and drag (much needed updating on this).Although the text may be deemed old it still offers some value in terms of historical context and covers the shifting (albeit limited) landscapes of drag practices and performers. It is a valid touchstone for drag scholars and those wit
1968,
1994,
English,
Roger Baker,
Full title: "The Transvestite Memoirs of the Abbe de Choisy" by Abbé de Choisy.The first edition of the memoirs was published in ... 1736. Yes, it is not a joke. Since then, the memoirs have been published many times in many languages. Let me quote the introduction from Goodreads: "By a whim of his mother, Francois Timoleon de Choisy - better known as the Abbé de Choisy - was dressed as a girl until the age of 18.After a short spell in male attire he became, by all accounts, the classic transvestite - a male heterosexual who never attempted to disguise his biological sex while going abou
1973,
1994,
2007,
English,
François-Timoléon De Choisy,
