None of the Above
Reflections on Life Beyond the Binary
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- £6.99
Publisher Description
WINNER OF THE SOMERSET MAUGHAM AWARD 2023
WINNER OF THE JHALAK PRIZE 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE POLARI FIRST BOOK PRIZE 2023
A WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2022: POLITICS
‘A breath of fresh air . . . There's no memoir like it’ Independent
‘Travis Alabanza writes with such generosity and ease even the most provocative suggestions start to seem obvious . . . Profound and funny’ SHON FAYE
‘Will challenge, empower and move your soul’ Glamour
‘Lucid and glorious’ YRSA DALEY-WARD
‘A gloriously specific, funny and smart body of work’ CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS
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‘When you are someone that falls outside of categories in so many ways, a lot of things are said to you. And I have had a lot of things said to me.’
In None of the Above, Travis Alabanza examines seven phrases people have directed at them about their gender identity. These phrases have stayed with them over the years. Some are deceptively innocuous, some deliberately loaded or offensive, some celebratory; sentences that have impacted them for better and for worse; sentences that speak to the broader issues raised by a world that insists that gender must be a binary.
Through these seven phrases, which include some of their most transformative experiences as a Black, mixed race, non binary person, Travis Alabanza turns a mirror back on society, giving us reason to question the very framework in which we live and the ways we treat each other.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Theatre maker and performance artist Travis Alabanza has long been an influential voice on topics of gender, feminism and intersectionality. In their latest book, None Of The Above, Alabanza offers their own unique insight as a mixed-race, working-class, non-binary person into the state of society through words they have been subjected to from others regarding their gender identity, demonstrates the power of language in shaping the world we live in. This vital exploration of what it means to live outside the conventionally accepted lines that humanity has drawn for itself strives for understanding, to dispel misconceptions and to show how liberation for marginalised people is the path towards a better world for all. This is an essential read for gender non-confirming people seeking to make sense of their experiences and anyone wishing to expand their comprehension of the human cost to discrimination.
