Please link up your reviews of Trans-Sister Radio by Chris Bohjalian
If you are new to my site, and don't know about the Busy Moms Monthly Online Book Club - click here to learn more!
Transsister Radio by Chris Bohjalian
Set in the village of Bartlett, Vermont, Trans-Sister Radio tells the story of four people who are drawn into a complicated tangle of relationships—relationships that will profoundly change each of them. When Allison, grade-school teacher and divorced mother of a teenage daughter, meets Dana, she feels she's at the beginning of an intense, ideal romance. But Dana reveals that he's always felt himself to be a woman and plans to have the surgery that will make that feeling a reality, and soon Allison's love for Dana and her perception of herself is severely tested. She grapples with the fact that she might not be able to love Dana in a woman's body. She worries whether her teaching career will survive the scandal that living with a transsexual in a small New England town is sure to cause. She wonders what effect the situation will have on her relationship with her daughter, Carly, and how her ex-husband, Will, is going to view the situation.
Allison stands by Dana through the surgery and recovery period, enduring the opprobrium of the local community and a growing unease about her own sexual identity. Threatening notes left in her school mailbox, obscene graffiti scrawled on her front door, pressure from the school board to take a leave of absence, and a local petition about teacher morality all contribute to making Allison and Dana's relationship both a public issue and a private ordeal. Even Will and Carly become increasingly involved in Allison and Dana's predicament, and when they decide to air a program on transsexualism for Vermont Public Radio, they bring both clarity to the issue and a new set of changes for everyone involved.
Written with empathy and extraordinary insight, Trans-Sister Radio explores the uncertain terrain of gender identity, sexual preference, and the entire range of pleasures, confusions, and sacrifices that love demands.
Here's What I think: For me this book with a little to technical. Which I think is a direct result of the format - A National Public Radio Interview. Since my grandfather listened to these a lot when I was a child, it wasn't a totally new concept to me, but it still doesn't exactly fall into "novel" story. The character development is extensive, almost too much so. The concept of a woman who falls in love with a man who surgically becomes a woman was very interesting and well represented. I think the book was just too far outside my norm for me to really get absorbed.
If you are participating please feel free to include the Busy Moms Book Club Logo in your review as well as add the linky. Please link up your own reviews of Trans-Sister Radio by Chris Bohjalian in the Linky Below:
Don't forget to vote for the September Book Club Selection in the poll located at the top of the Sidebar.
If you are new to my site, and don't know about the Busy Moms Monthly Online Book Club - click here to learn more!
Transsister Radio by Chris Bohjalian
Set in the village of Bartlett, Vermont, Trans-Sister Radio tells the story of four people who are drawn into a complicated tangle of relationships—relationships that will profoundly change each of them. When Allison, grade-school teacher and divorced mother of a teenage daughter, meets Dana, she feels she's at the beginning of an intense, ideal romance. But Dana reveals that he's always felt himself to be a woman and plans to have the surgery that will make that feeling a reality, and soon Allison's love for Dana and her perception of herself is severely tested. She grapples with the fact that she might not be able to love Dana in a woman's body. She worries whether her teaching career will survive the scandal that living with a transsexual in a small New England town is sure to cause. She wonders what effect the situation will have on her relationship with her daughter, Carly, and how her ex-husband, Will, is going to view the situation.
Allison stands by Dana through the surgery and recovery period, enduring the opprobrium of the local community and a growing unease about her own sexual identity. Threatening notes left in her school mailbox, obscene graffiti scrawled on her front door, pressure from the school board to take a leave of absence, and a local petition about teacher morality all contribute to making Allison and Dana's relationship both a public issue and a private ordeal. Even Will and Carly become increasingly involved in Allison and Dana's predicament, and when they decide to air a program on transsexualism for Vermont Public Radio, they bring both clarity to the issue and a new set of changes for everyone involved.
Written with empathy and extraordinary insight, Trans-Sister Radio explores the uncertain terrain of gender identity, sexual preference, and the entire range of pleasures, confusions, and sacrifices that love demands.
Here's What I think: For me this book with a little to technical. Which I think is a direct result of the format - A National Public Radio Interview. Since my grandfather listened to these a lot when I was a child, it wasn't a totally new concept to me, but it still doesn't exactly fall into "novel" story. The character development is extensive, almost too much so. The concept of a woman who falls in love with a man who surgically becomes a woman was very interesting and well represented. I think the book was just too far outside my norm for me to really get absorbed.
If you are participating please feel free to include the Busy Moms Book Club Logo in your review as well as add the linky. Please link up your own reviews of Trans-Sister Radio by Chris Bohjalian in the Linky Below:
Don't forget to vote for the September Book Club Selection in the poll located at the top of the Sidebar.
I am bummed you didn't love this one. I gave it four stars! My review will be up in the morning and I will link it then.....
ReplyDeleteNot your speed and Julie enjoyed it. It is not looking like I will be able to participate, I will look at the date when we are suppose to discuss it.
ReplyDelete