ralentina reviewed Man alive by Thomas Page McBee
A book about survival
4 stars
Content warning Medium spoilers!
The title here is more truthful to the book than the marketing material: it is a book about survival more than it is a book about transitioning,I am pleasantly tipsy while writing these notes. Thomas (then Page) was abused by his father as a child, and grew up into a very masculine presenting lesbian. In their twenties, they are assaulted at gun point, and presumably saved by their feminine voice. Gender is messy, and this is experience that pushes Page to switch from passing as a man to transitioning into one. It is a well-written book, maybe at time a bit more flowery than it is my taste, but never sappy. Thomas is determined to be a good guy, and that includes recognising the humanity in the people around him, including those who abused him. I found the relationship between him and his mum worth of another book: she, forever guilty of having let the abuse happening, and he, in need to make sense of things through his own narratives, but also loving and accepting.