Man Alive
A True Story of Violence, Forgiveness and Becoming a Man
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
If he is to become a man, what sort of man should Thomas Page McBee be?
To find out, Thomas must confront the suffering he has endured at the hands of men: the abuse he endured as a child from his father, and the violent mugging which almost killed him as an adult. Standing at the brink of the life-changing decision to transition from female to male, McBee seeks to understand these examples of flawed manhood, and reclaim his body on his own terms.
Powerful, uplifting and profound, Man Alive is a story about transformation; about freedom, and love, and finding the strength to rebuild ourselves as the people we are meant to be.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
McBee, a columnist for the Rumpus, begins this remarkable memoir by juxtaposing two painful events in his life a mugging in Oakland, and his childhood revelation to his mother of his father's abuse. These recollections propel the author on a quest of discovery and reconciliation, not just of his personal history and the men who injured him, but on the nature of masculinity, both cultural and biological, as he approaches his own female-to-male gender transition. In taut, careful prose that conveys both brutal awareness and unceasing wonder, McBee captures the tension of his transition, "the warble between the shape in my mind and the one in the mirror," "the assault of language" in simple use of pronouns, the fraught everyday choices of which swimsuit to wear, which public restroom to use. In the end, McBee's answer to the initial question of "what makes a man?" is more generous, more inspiring, and more creative than the usual gender binaries allow. Full of bravery and clear, far-sighted compassion and devoid of sentiment, victimization, and clich , McBee's meditations bring him a hard-won sense of self one that is bound to inspire any reader who has struggled with internal dissonance.
