Rebent Sinner
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Ivan Coyote is one of North America’s preeminent storytellers and performers; they are the author, co-author, or co-editor of eleven previous books, and their TED talk has received over 1.6 million views online. Their most recent book, Tomboy Survival Guide, was shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust of Canada Prize for Non-Fiction and was named an American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book.
In their latest, Ivan takes on the patriarchy and the political, as well as the intimate and the personal in these beguiling and revealing stories of what it means to be trans and non-binary today, at a time in their life when they must carry the burden of heartbreaking history with them, while combatting those who would misgender them or deny their very existence. These stories span thirty years of tackling TERFs, legislators, and bathroom police, sure, but there is joy and pleasure and triumph to be found here too, as Ivan pays homage to personal heroes like Leslie Feinberg and Ferron while gently guiding younger trans folk to prove to themselves that there is a way out of the darkness.
Rebent Sinner is the work of an accomplished artist whose plain truths about their experience will astound readers with their utter, breathtaking humanity.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Coyote (Tomboy Survival Guide) "look back over thirty queer years" as a trans, nonbinary writer and spoken word performer in this thought-provoking collection of autobiographical vignettes. Less focused on the "why" of being trans than the everyday realities of the trans experience, Coyote shares social media posts; open letters to journalists, readers, teachers, and audience members; conversations overheard in markets and airports; jokes ("I saw man candles' in a store the other day. They smelled like misogyny and unshed tears"); existential riddles ("What did shame ever teach me, except to be ashamed?"); and a lecture on diversity Coyote delivered at the 2017 Sydney Writers' Festival. As a touring performer who averages more than 200 days on the road per year, Coyote writes of frequently experiencing such indignities as not having access to a gender neutral bathroom. Meanwhile, feeling unsafe, Coyote notes, "is so normal it's not even a story." Recounting the thrill of discovering such "queer heroes" as Leslie Feinberg and Joan Armatrading, Coyote describes the burdens of representation that saddle LGBTQ writers and performers, and ponders the legacy of their own generation of trans artists. Audiences interested in the conversation on trans identities will welcome Coyote's direct style and compassionate voice.
