Becoming a Man: The Story of a Transition

Carl marks his debut with a series of chapters that read more like individual essays than a continuous narrative. He describes the challenges and triumphs of his transition from publicly presenting as a queer woman to a man. Meditations include the influence of Carl’s father on his own experience and presentation of manhood, the obstacles his transition posed to his marriage and to his wife’s identity as a lesbian woman, and the privilege Carl now experiences as a white man. Introspective and self-interrogating, this story of gender transition offers a nuanced perspective, which helps pluralize and diversify descriptions of the experience. Carl’s prose is generally clear, though in the chapter “Traveling with Men,” a story that details a hiking expedition and which juggles several personalities, Carl sometimes struggles with clarity. But throughout, Carl offers a level of intimacy and self-reflection that is fairly unique, especially given the highly personal content.