... closer to an out-of-body experience than a memoir, something that makes all the more sense as [Dunham] repeats throughout that they do not feel comfortable in the body or self they have been born into ... Dreamlike and episodic, Dunham’s writing brings readers on a global tour of moments that have defined and remained with them. Their rambles seem destined towards a firm conclusion, only to stop short. By refusing a neat journey towards decision or realization, their memoir’s stopping point can be seen as one of two decisions: to stand at a crossroads, possibly knowing the direction you will go but keeping it close, or to take the typically unseen third path, which blends the two before you.
... can come off as recovery literature...But we have other memoirs that work that terrain. This one’s much better read as an account of generational and intellectual good fortune. Dunham can build on terms they have inherited from earlier trans people, and can also talk and write about the vicissitudes of erotic desire, about how desire affects what gender means.
Candid and compassionate, this book offers a view of one person’s trans experience that defies categorization as much as it defies resolution ... Elegant, eloquent, and deeply personal.
Dunham demonstrates a self-reflective awareness of their own psychology. This memoir will resonate deeply with other young people seeking gender harmony.
