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.
"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: "Jiūzhèng shàngdì de cuòwù" 纠正上帝的错误 (Correcting God's Mistakes) by Wu Xingren 吴兴人.
Essayist Wu Xingren set foot in the world of transgender people, which lasted 15 years, and wrote "Correcting God's Mistakes", published by Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House.
Sina.com serialized "Corrected God's Mistakes" on the Reading Channel, which attracted the attention of netizens.
15 years ago, the author befriended He Qinglian, the director of plastic surgery at Changzheng Hospital. When Professor He Qinglian completed the first male-to-female transsexual surgery of Qin Huiying in China in 1981, the author was the first to publicly announce the news that the first sex reassignment surgery was completed in Banzai in China. The following year, Professor He Qinglian completed the first female-to-male operation, and Professor He authorized the author to publish the news in the Shanghai Liberation Daily.
2005,
Chinese,
Wu Xingren,
"Tā tā" 她他 (She, He) is the Chinese language edition of "Conundrum" by Jan Morris.
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."
And here is an excerpt from a fantastic review from Transascity: "Conundrum is an autobiography, a tale about the life and transsexual journey of Jan Morris, noted British journalist and author. Born Humphrey Morris, Jan led an idyllic if somewhat lonely childhood, feeling since age 3 or 4 that she was born into the wrong body."
2016,
Chinese,
Jan Morris,
Original title: "Nü ren meng: Zhongguo bian xing di yi ren" 女人梦: 中国变性第 (A Woman's dream: The first transgender person in China) by Yingru Den.
Zhang Kesha (张克莎), formerly known as Zhang Kesha, was born in Dalian in 1962 in a high-ranking family, and later settled in Changsha, Hunan Province with her parents. At the end of 1982, under Zhang Kesha's repeated insistence and struggle, her parents who loved their children finally acquiesced to her request for sex change.
In January of the following year, Zhang Kesha successfully underwent sex reassignment surgery at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Beijing Medical University.
2003,
China,
Chinese,
Yingru Den,
Zhang Kesha,
Original title: "Wǒ běn jiārén" 我本佳人 (I am a beautiful woman) by Liu Ting 刘婷.
"This is an autobiographical novel and a book of persevering to chase the dream. In the past more than 20 years of life, Liu changed from an ordinary rural child into a well-known public figure; she was the national "moral model" in the eyes of people, and she chose "love" between "the survival of the fittest" and "love".
With tiny hope, she resolutely took her mother on her back on the road of study; she was a transsexual patient struggling in front of morality and nature. As a man, she wanted to become a woman. After the painful psychological struggle, she finally made up her mind to become a real woman through surgery."
2015,
China,
Chinese,
Liu Ting,
"Tiǎozhàn shàngdì de cuò: Jīnxīng de wǔmèng rénshēng" - 挑戰上帝的錯：金星的舞夢人生 (Challenging God's Mistakes: Venus' Dancing Life) is the biography of Jin Xing, which was published in many languages.
Jin Xing (Chinese: 金星; pinyin: Jīn Xīng) was born in 1967 in Shenyang, China, to an ethnic Korean family. She is a Chinese ballerina, modern dancer, choreographer, actress, founder, and artistic director of the contemporary dance company Shanghai.
In addition, she is a transgender celebrity and icon of the Chinese transgender community. This unusual memoir describes how China's foremost male ballet dancer (and colonel in the People's Army) underwent one of China's first sex-change operations and became the Shanghai Ballet's prima ballerina.
2004,
China,
Chinese,
Jin Xing,
Original title: "I am a shemale escort" by Xiao Bai Hu.
The information about the book is scarce. It covers the experience of a transgender woman that provides escort services. The book is accompanied by several photos of the author, including in escort outfits.
2016,
Chinese,
Xiao Bai Hu,
"Zhìdìyǒushēng: wǒ bùxiǎng gǎibiàn shìjiè, yě bùxiǎng bèi shìjiè gǎibiàn" - 掷地有声: 掷地有声我不想改变世界，也不想被世界改变 (Loudly: I don't want to change the world, and I don't want to be changed by the world) is the collection of Jin Xing's essays about womanhood.
'Jin Xing's first essay book tells you what a woman should do and how to live a life to the fullest! 47 insightful articles, do not only talk about what you want to hear, they only say what others dare not say. The truth is loud and sound, and the truth stirs energy everywhere. Jin xing talks about the beauty of women: "Sexiness is not about putting it on, it's about making men think about you, have the urge to take care of you, and talk about you when talking to other men." "Sexy is for men to run after them!"
Jin Xing talks about the happiness of being a wife and mother and talks about practical durability. The enviable family of five has made her know how happiness needs to be managed.
Why do people say that "marriage is the graveyard of love"? Marriage is the graveyard of love! What's so bad about the grave? The grave does not refer to death, but to detachment!'
2013,
China,
Chinese,
Jin Xing,
"Bàn mèng: Jīnxīng zìzhuàn" - 半夢：金星自傳 (Half a Dream: Autobiography of Venus) is the second Chinese language edition of Jin Xing's biography.
Jin Xing (Chinese: 金星; pinyin: Jīn Xīng) was born in 1967 in Shenyang, China, to an ethnic Korean family. She is a Chinese ballerina, modern dancer, choreographer, actress, founder, and artistic director of the contemporary dance company Shanghai.
In addition, she is a transgender celebrity and icon of the Chinese transgender community. This unusual memoir describes how China's foremost male ballet dancer (and colonel in the People's Army) underwent one of China's first sex-change operations and became the Shanghai Ballet's prima ballerina.
2006,
China,
Chinese,
Jin Xing,
"Biàn shēn nī kě: Bù yīyàng yòu rúhé? Kuà xìngbié nǚhái yǔ tā jiātíng de chéngzhǎng zhī lù" - 變身妮可：不一樣又如何？跨性別女孩與她家庭的成長之路 (Becoming Nicole: So What? The journey of a transgender girl and her family growing up) is the Chinese language edition of "Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family", written by Amy Ellis Nutt, a health and science writer at The Washington Post.
In the book introduction, we can read: "When Wayne and Kelly Maines adopted identical twin boys, they thought their lives were complete. But it wasn’t long before they noticed a marked difference between Jonas and his brother, Wyatt. Jonas preferred sports and trucks and many of the things little boys were “supposed” to like; but Wyatt liked princess dolls and dress-up and playing Little Mermaid. By the time the twins were toddlers, confusion over Wyatt’s insistence that he was female began to tear the family apart. In the years that followed, the Maineses came to question their long-held views on gender and identity, to accept and embrace Wyatt’s transition to Nicole, and to undergo an emotionally wrenching transformation of their own that would change all their lives forever."
2017,
Amy Ellis Nutt,
Chinese,
Nicole Maines,
"Dānmài nǚhái" (丹麥女孩) is the Chinese language edition of The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff.
Having gender reassignment surgery in the 1930s was an unusual and sensational affair, and the man who took the step to do so was the Danish painter Einar Mogens Andreas Wegener, who after the operation took the name of Lili Elbe.
The operation took place at the Institute for Sexology in Berlin, where the male organs were removed. The surgery was performed by Felix Abraham at the recommendation of Magnus Hirschfeld.
Einar Wegener was married to the beautiful, celebrated artist Gerda Wegener. They lived in a highly unusual marriage. Their life fate is told in this book, which is a fiction novel based on authentic events and diary entries from Einar Wegener.
2015,
Chinese,
David Ebershoff,
Lili Elbe,
