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: "Mauvais genre" (Wrong Gender) by Chloé Cruchaudet.
"Paul and Louise love each other, Paul and Louise get married, but World War I escalates and separates them. Paul, who wants at all costs to escape the hell of the trenches, becomes a deserter and finds Louise in Paris. He is safe but condemned to remain hidden in a hotel room. To put an end to his clandestine existence, Paul imagines a solution: to change his identity. Now he'll be known as... ...Suzanne. Between gender confusion and the trauma of war, the couple will arrive at a very unusual destiny."
To escape the horrors of the trenches, Paul becomes a deserter. He manages to make his way to Paris, where he hides with the help of his wife Louise. As a deserter threatened with death, he is doomed to stay forever in the same four walls — or to be transformed. Disguised as "Suzanne", Louise's best friend, she dares to flourish as a woman. The masquerade in women's clothes becomes a new identity that lasts for decades. As Suzanne, Paul becomes part of the Parisian travesty scene. Based on a true story, French illustrator Chloé Cruchaudet tells a nuanced and subtle story of an unusual transgender relationship in the Paris of the Golden Age Twenties. The Wrong Gender was one of the great successes of the 2013/14 comic book year in France. The graphic novel is based on the highly acclaimed biography of Fabrice Virgili & Daniele Voldman La Garconne et L'Assasin.
2013,
Chloé Cruchaudet,
French,
Full title: "Mama Black Widow" by Iceberg Slim.
"Mama Black Widow tells the tragic story of Otis Tilson, a stunning black drag queen trapped in a cruel queer ghetto underworld. In hopes of escaping the racial bigotry and economic injustice of the South, Otis’ family journeys north from their plantation to an urban promised land. Once in Chicago Otis and his brother and sisters become prisoners to a wasteland of violence, crime, prostitution and rape. This is the gut-wrenching tale of the destruction of a family and the truest portrayal of homosexuality in the ghetto ever told."
"Otis Wilson hesitates between the woman who wants him and the woman he wants to be. He struggles against his homosexuality and femininity, against these impulses that push him to cross-dress and that cause him to be rejected, despised, raped. He also recalls the tragic fate of his family, who left the plantations of the South to seek their fortune in the North, but found only the violence and misery of the ghetto. Collecting this testimony, Iceberg Slim gives us a biography of tragic realism."
2013,
English,
Iceberg Slim,
Otis Tilson,
Original title: "La Revolución de las Mariposas" (The Butterfly Revolution) by Alicia Ruiz, Las Mochas, Lucía Fuster Pravato, Marlene Wayar, Gabriela Mansilla, Karina Nazábal, Alan Otto Prieto, Sebastian Amaro, Alba Rueda, Say Sacayán, Dario Arias, Emiliano Litardo, and Paula Viturro.
"The Butterfly Revolution. Ten years after The Deed of the Proper Name. An investigation into the situation of the trans population in the City of Buenos Aires. It was developed jointly by the Gender and Sexual Diversity Program, the Divino Tesoro Foundation and the Mocha Celis Trans Popular High School. It seeks to warn about the need to continue with the design and implementation of policies that effectively contribute to the recognition of the trans community as subjects of rights."
2013,
Alan Otto Prieto,
Alicia Ruiz,
Argentina,
Gabriela Mansilla,
Karina Nazábal,
Las Mochas,
Lucía Fuster Pravato,
Marlene Wayar,
Sebastian Amaro,
Spanish,
Full title: "Ceremonies for the Dead" by Gwen Benaway.
"Ceremonies for the Dead is an award-winning collection of poems that examine the haunting themes of inter-generational trauma, cyclical abuse, and inherited grief. Four generations of the dead take turns narrating these themes, navigating from the Great Lakes through the Appalachian Mountains, and examining the fur trade, an exile from Minnesota, the experiences of West Virginia coal miners, and the legacy of mission schools. Black humour and satire fill the collection, illuminating a fierce determination to survive and resist colonization and the endurance of culture and identity under extreme duress."
2013,
Canada,
English,
Gwen Benaway,
Full title: "Fucking Trans Women: A Zine About the Sex Lives of Trans Women" by Mira Bellwether.
According to Wikipedia, "Fucking Trans Women (FTW) is a zine created by Mira Bellwether. A single 80-page issue, numbered "#0", was published in October 2010 and republished in 2013 as Fucking Trans Women: A Zine About the Sex Lives of Trans Women; further issues were planned, but none had been published as of Bellwether's death in December 2022.
Bellwether wrote all of the issue's articles, which explore a variety of sexual activities involving trans women, primarily ones who are pre-op or non-op with respect to bottom surgery. Fucking Trans Women was the first publication of note to focus on sex with trans women and was innovative in its focus on trans women's own perspectives and its inclusion of instructions for many of the sex acts depicted".
2010,
2013,
English,
Mira Bellwether,
Original title: "Mein langer Weg zur Moni B: Eine erzählte Biografie" (My long way to Moni B.: A narrated biography) by William Prides.
The authentically told biography allows the reader to look through the eyes of a person desperately trying to find their gender and sexuality. Maybe that's why they throw themselves into life. You throw up your hands over your head when they commit a series of misdeeds and constantly offend society.
One feels and suffers with them, because the inner conflict is only too understandable as a driving force. It takes an adventurous life with many exciting twists and turns to arrive at oneself.
2013,
German,
William Prides,
Original title: "Tragisch, aber geil: Zu wahr, um schön zu sein" (Tragic, but awesome: Too true to be beautiful) by Barbie Breakout.
To come up with an autobiography after only 34 years of life may seem presumptuous. Especially if, despite all the notoriety, you really aren't an international celebrity. But as soon as you have read the first few pages of "Tragic, but awesome", you realize that a life is being told here in which there is more than enough history that wanted to be written.
Often with shameful openness and never too vain, Barbie tells her life, in which, in addition to sex, drugs and scandals, it is always about the search for personal happiness. A sincere, honest book full of emitions and filled with sometimes touching, sometimes hilarious stories. A snapshot of a stunning city, a guide to a life that never gets boring and, last but not least, a support for anyone who is struggling in their life. You don't have to know or like Barbie Breakout to feel at home in this book and have a lot of completely politically incorrect
2013,
Barbie Breakout,
Drag queen,
German,
"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 the questions of those who give the subject little thought, creating questions of her own."
2013,
Chinese,
Kate Bornstein,
Original title: "Vivir en el cuerpo equivocado" (Living in the wrong body) by Juan Pablo Proal.
Living in the Wrong Body is a compendium of chronicles and reports about people who have been excluded from the "world of normals". Out of ignorance and lack of sensitivity, transsexuals, intersexed, transgenders, and transvestites are commonly killed, tortured, and discriminated against in Mexico. They do not have access to formal work, social security, and a dignified life.
This book summarizes the stories of those who, with the world against them, managed to earn a place in life. The work is full of revelations and written in the best of journalistic languages: agility, rhythm, and clarity.
2013,
Juan Pablo Proal,
Mexico,
Spanish,
Full title: "Dianna: Every Day is Dressed Up" by Sander Marsman.
"Dianna an extremely youthful 78 year old, born Leonard, only recently began to live as a woman full time. The book is a testament to her personal journey and bravery. Marsman’s intimate photographs are mixed with Dianna’s artful self-portraits taken from the 1950s until the present.
The book follows Dianna’s sartorial secret life, including a list and description of the 220 articles of clothing in her wardrobe. ‘Every Day is Dressed Up’ questions the nature of identity in a personal and intimate way. - Cheryl Newman and Livia Bonadio"
2013,
English,
Sander Marsman,
Full title: "Kathoey Ladyboy: Thailand's Got Talent" by Heinz Duthel.
"Kathoeys are more visible and more accepted in Thai culture than transgender or transsexual people are in Western countries or the Indian subcontinent. Several popular Thai models, singers and movie stars are kathoeys, and Thai newspapers often print photos of the winners of female and kathoey beauty contests side by side. The phenomenon is not restricted to urban areas; there are kathoeys in most villages, and kathoey beauty contests are commonly held as part of local fairs.
Although the term ladyboy is rather ambiguous, simply put, it is a male who dresses as and carries out the identity of a woman. Though the term is often translated as transgender, transgender is rarely used in Thailand, instead they use the term Kathoey. This term can now also be used to refer to any male homosexual and was originally used to refer to intersex people. Due to this term becoming so broad many choose to use the English word to explain a homosexual male dressing as a woman as a "ladyboy," this eliminates much of the confusion.
2013,
English,
Heinz Duthel,
Thailand,
Full title: "MY WAY (+) YOUR WAY (=) OUR WAY (∑∞): TransWoman's Self Discovery" by GinaDoll Garrett.
"The world is a better place when heterosexuals, bisexuals, gay, lesbian, transgender, intersexual and the diversity of our Traveloid World of personalities, learn to tolerate each other's idiosyncrasies and enjoy the freedom of expression.
As adults, we conclude that this is a Traveloid World, a special dreamland type of reality to learn as much as we can about our body, mind and soul and acknowledge the human aspects and connection to pleasure, joy and lifestyle diversity. We are lucky to be Americans, exercising our rights to freedom of speech, self-determination and discovery of the making of who we are as unique adults."
2013,
English,
GinaDoll Garrett,
"Ein schädlicher Einfluss: Die wahre Geschichte eines netten jüdischen Knaben, der bei Scientology landete und zwölf Jahre später zu der hinreißenden Lady ... ist. Mein mutiges Leben" is the German language edition of "A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The True Story of a Nice Jewish Boy Who Joins the Church of Scientology and Leaves Twelve Years Later to Become the Lovely Lady She is Today" by Kate Bornstein.
"In the early 1970s, a boy from a Conservative Jewish family joined the Church of Scientology. In 1981, that boy officially left the movement and ultimately transitioned into a woman. A few years later, she stopped calling herself a woman—and became a famous gender outlaw.
Gender theorist, performance artist, and author Kate Bornstein is set to change lives with her stunningly original memoir. Wickedly funny and disarmingly honest, this is Bornstein's most intimate book yet, encompassing her early childhood and adolescence, college at Brown, a life in the theater, three marriages and fatherhood, the Scientology hierarchy, transsexual life, LGBTQ politics, and life on the road as a sought-after speaker."
2013,
German,
Interview,
Kate Bornstein,
USA,
Full title: "Frissons au Carrousel" (Chills at the Carrousel) by Marie-Pierre Pruvot.
Coccinelle was a living legend. She owed it to her beauty, her overflowing femininity, her incomparable brilliance both in the city and on the stage. Her character imposed herself by another aspect: she was "something never seen before".
The anecdote shows her in a difficult moment when she thinks she is losing face by following her own principles of wisdom... But her petulance takes over, her instinct makes her triumph. Everything happens in Marseille. This is an opportunity to evoke the famous Alcazar, a monument of the music-hall, which does not exist anymore.
2013,
Bambi,
Coccinelle,
French,
Marie-Pierre Pruvot,
Full title: "Excluded: Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive" by Julia Serano.
"While many feminist and queer movements are designed to challenge sexism, they often simultaneously police gender and sexuality -- sometimes just as fiercely as the straight, male-centric mainstream does. Some feminists vocally condemn other feminists because of how they dress, for their sexual partners or practices, or because they are seen as different and therefore less valued.
Among LGBTQ activists, there is a long history of lesbians and gay men dismissing bisexuals, transgender people, and other gender and sexual minorities. In each case, exclusion is based on the premise that certain ways of being gendered or sexual are more legitimate, natural, or righteous than others.
2013,
English,
Julia Serano,
USA,
Full title: "My New Gender Workbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Achieving World Peace Through Gender Anarchy and Sex Positivity" ia the updated version of "My Gender Workbook: How to Become a Real Man, a Real Woman, the Real You, or Something Else Entirely" (1997) by Kate Bornstein.
"Cultural theorists have written loads of smart but difficult-to-fathom texts on gender theory, but most fail to provide a hands-on, accessible guide for those trying to sort out their own sexual identities. In My Gender Workbook, transgender activist Kate Bornstein brings theory down to Earth and provides a practical approach to living with or without a gender. Bornstein starts from the premise that there are not just two genders performed in today's world, but countless genders lumped under the two-gender framework. Using a unique, deceptively simple and always entertaining workbook format, complete with quizzes, exercises, and puzzles, Bornstein gently but firmly guides readers toward discovering their own unique gender identity."
2013,
English,
Interview,
Kate Bornstein,
USA,
Original title: "Eschimesi in Amazzonia: Dialoghi intorno alla depatologizzazione della transessualità" (Eskimos in the Amazon. Dialogues around the depathologization of transsexuality) by C. Pallarin and R. Padovano.
Like Eskimos in the Amazon, transgender and transsexual people live in a context that did not provide for them, in constant contrast with the social rules and cultural conventions of the habitat. At every latitude and at all times there have been people with a non-conforming gender, defined by various names, the "Hijras" in India, the "Sworn Virgins" in the Balkans, the "Two Spirits" of the Native Americans, the Neapolitan "Femminielli"... The realities of trans existences, freed from the stigma of pathology, can bring into play an overall redefinition of who we are, as women, men, trans, lesbians, gays, and intersexes.
2013,
C. Pallarin,
Italian,
R. Padovano,
Full title: "Le Carrousel" by Marie-Pierre Pruvot. This is the third part of the 5-book series about Marie-Pierre Pruvot's life.
The Carrousel is the immediate follow-up to the novel Madame Arthur. Bambi makes his debut in the prestigious cabaret. Crowned with success, she remains insensitive to this shadow of prestige. Her interest, she brings it to the obsessive Coccinelle who becomes her friend, but especially her model. Always in search of her "self", will Bambi finally have the strength and courage to find and cultivate her personality?
Her love for Serge is put to the test: the Algerian war makes their relationship clandestine. Very quickly, Bambi is torn by a sentimental duality that will end with a crucial choice...
Through this novel, Marie-Pierre Pruvot pursues her quest for identity. Her loves, her friendships, but also her disillusionments continue to shape her life. The path to an extraordinary destiny then emerges. Through this novel, she continues to take the reader to this distant Paris, colorful and full of frivolities. The cabaret Le Carrousel and its artists come back to life in this story...
2013,
Bambi,
French,
Georges Burou,
Marie-Pier Ysser,
Marie-Pierre Pruvot,
Full title: "Transitional Belief: Christianity as Viewed through the Lens of a Transgender Believer" by Ashley Ford.
A look at what it means to be a transsexual Christian, told from the author's personal experience and observation.
2013,
Ashley Ford,
English,
Full title: "Madame Arthur" by Marie-Pierre Pruvot. This is the second part of the 5-book series about Marie-Pierre Pruvot's life.
"The story of Bambi's life, her first year at Madame Arthur, begins in January 1960 and spans a period of one year. We find the character of Edouard there, as in Algiers, but we also discover a certain exuberance that flourishes among the cabaret artists, with rivalries, quarrels, derision, and above all the apprenticeship of the profession of the stage.
We discover small restaurants, warm but dangerous, loves... finally the preparation of a tour, the search for a name that makes Carrousel. Discovery of the traveling show which ends in Algiers with a police ban for moral and political reasons (1961 putsch). "
2013,
Bambi,
French,
Georges Burou,
Marie-Pier Ysser,
Marie-Pierre Pruvot,
