Transparent: Love, Family, and Living the T with Transgender Teenagers
Cris Beam
  - Harcourt, January 2007, $25.00

When this came in as a galley many months ago I snapped it up: both eager to read and extremely wary of another pop book about trans folks. I feel that much of what I’ve seen is disrespectful, misinformed, or disconnected from the real lives, needs, and experiences of its transgender subjects. Leery of trouble the whole book through, my fears never found fruition: Transparent is a deeply engaging book that puts the teens at the center of the story, allowing their experiences to focus and inform the narrative in an honest and respectful manner which is, to say the least, rare among its brethren. Told from Beam’s point of view as an adoptive parent, Transparent is a gripping read for trannies, parents, queer teens, and anyone who has ever loved a teenager. This is also a particularly keen book for those interested in teaching themselves more about the transgender experience.

Reviewed by Annie Danger

top of page

The Amputee's Guide to Sex
Jillian Weise
  - Soft Skull Press, March 2007, $14.95

The Amputee's Guide to Sex, new from Soft Skull Press, hooked me instantly: I'm always interested how artifacts of this culture explicitly reference navigating disability, corporeality, and intimacy, because these are discussed together so infrequently. This debut collection of poetry is sublime--launching into an experience that's unfamiliar territory for many, yet made accessible--and still the work has layers to relish returning to after being pulled through the text the first time. Prosthetics, the legacy of medicalization, considerations of what is sufficient, being vulnerable in the face of the Other whether that be a sexual partner or one's self-definition, fishnet stockings--it's all here. Weise captures plenty in a concise book; her voice is fiercely compelling and recommended.

Reviewed by Seeley Quest

top of page

A Brief History of Neoliberalism
David Harvey
  - Oxford University Press, 2007, $16.95

As Margaret Thatcher uttered those famous words, “There is no alternative”, so began a new era of capitalism and ruling class hegemony. Neoliberalism has become a household word on the left, but do we really understand its character? What is the nature of the neoliberal state? How does neoliberalism differ from neoconservatism? Has neoliberalism resolved capitalism’s crisis, or is it driving it into a new one? Once again David Harvey takes it on, probing into the fundamental questions of advanced capitalism, illuminating its contradictions and exposing its weaknesses.

Reviewed by Becca Tumposky

top of page