reviewed by James Park,
existential philosopher and reader of sexology

1. Kate Bornstein
Gender Outlaw: On Men, Woman, and the Rest of Us

(New York: Routledge, 1994)

     An inside account of a high-profile male-to-female transsexual.
Kate says she always knew she was a girl
even tho biologically she was a boy.
And she always found the idea of crossing over
to become a woman sexually exciting.
In 1993, when she wrote this book,
she considered herself a lesbian,
but her female lover was changing to become a man.

     This reviewer found it difficult
to believe that the author is a woman.
Her personality as it come thru in the writing
still seems to be mostly 'masculine'.
In a later book My Gender Workbook,
s/he declares her/himself to be neither sex.
See http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/B-TS.html .

2. Jennifer Spry
Onlando's Sleep: An Autobiography of Gender

(Norwich, VT: New Victoria Publishers, 1997)      186 pages
(ISBN: 0-934678-80-4)
(Library of Congress call number: HQ77.8.S695A3 1997)

     The author lived forty years as a man,
when changed to a woman, who is a lesbian.
Orlando's Sleep recounts the problems she encountered with:
family, friends, work-colleages, doctors, etc.
in the process of making the decision to change sex—and doing it.

     She presents little theory of wanting to become a woman,
only her belief that she was a female from birth—
—despite the fact of living for
more than 40 years known to all as a man.

     Secret dressing as a woman
was the first manifestation of Spry's "transgenderism".
Later she had hormone treatments
and sex-change surgery to become a woman physically.

     This is a positive and supportive book,
which may be especially of interest
to others facing the same problems.

3. Loren Cameron
Body Alchemy: Transsexual Portraits: Photographs

(San Francisco, CA: Cleis Press, 1996)       110 pages
(ISBN: 1-57344-063-9; hardcover)
(ISBN: 1-75344-062-0; paperback)
(Library of Congress call number: HQ77.95.U6C36 1996)

     This large-format book contains about 40 full-page pictures,
about half of which include the photographer/author herself/himself.
All of the subjects are female-to-male transsexuals.
Some explanation of their transitions to very convincing men
are included with their pictures.

     There is very little exploration of the reasons
for deciding to become men, but the results are shown.
Each picture is a success story of transition from woman to man.

    If you would like to know more about the
scientific and philosophical dimensions of transsexualism,
see the Transsexualism Bibliography .

    Many more autobiographies of transsexuals
should be reviewed here.
Please send your suggestions to James Park:
PARKx032@TC.UMN.EDU

    This bibliography is related to several others in sexology.
Here is the complete list: