Showing titles in Biographies & Memoirs

Michigan. To tens of thousands of womyn from around the globe, the word meant not a state in the upper Midwest of the U.S., but a state of mind, a state of freedom. A culture, a community, a revolution. The Land. From 1976 to 2015, the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival was home ground for the lesbian feminist movement. There we strove to embody the principles of matriarchal feminism and bring that wisdom to life in every aspect of the town we created, and the values that guided our lives together.

What is the difference between men and women? Jennifer Finney Boylan, bestselling author of She’s Not There and co-author of Mad Honey with Jodi Picoult, examines the divisions—as well as the common ground—between the genders, and reflects on her own experiences, both difficult and joyful, as a transgender American.

Read by the author, Roxy Bourdillon. Featuring an exclusive audio Q&A between the author and Laura Kay. 'Courageous, moving, bold and beautifully, brilliantly written.' – Daisy Buchanan I am 13 years old and these are my secrets. 1. I have a crush on Jet from ITV gameshow Gladiators. So strong!...

At just four years old, Reza Farahan left Iran for what was supposed to be a quick family trip to Los Angeles. But while he was soaking up the California sun, revolution erupted back home, and Reza's short stay turned into permanent exile. Caught between cultures, identities, and expectations, Reza was an outsider in every sense of the word. He was a half-Muslim, half-Jewish, gay Persian kid just trying to survive 1980s America―a place that saw him as a threat, even when all he wanted was to belong. But with an unapologetic spirit and bold personality, Reza was never destined to simply fit in.

In 2016, Debbie Hayton underwent gender reassignment surgery. Fast forward to today, and Hayton's refusal to validate the standard gender identity orthodoxy has led to excommunication by the trans activist community. What happened? Transsexual Apostate weaves an intimate account of Debbie's story into a forensic critique of trans ideology. Focussing mainly on transwomen, she examines the reality of male autogynephilia and argues that the vast majority of transwomen are men with a psychological disorder that needs to be managed compassionately.

Bastard Out of Carolina, nominated for the 1992 National Book Award for fiction, introduced Dorothy Allison as one of the most passionate and gifted writers of her generation. Now, in Two or Three Things I Know for Sure, she takes a probing look at her family's history to give us a lyrical, complex memoir that explores how the gossip of one generation can become legends for the next.

Denham (Denny) Fouts, the 20th century's most famous male prostitute, was a socialite and literary muse whose extraordinary life started off humbly in Jacksonville, Florida. But in short order he befriended (and bedded) the rich and celebrated and in the process conquered the world.

Growing up in rural Oregon, Brandon Wolf grappled with the devastating loss of his supportive mother and with the embedded racism and homophobia of a community that made him feel like an unwelcome stranger. After the lack of connection and role models led him down a spiral of risky behavior, Wolf escaped to survive. In Orlando, he found what he’d been searching for: belonging—in a community that was a safe space with people he’d come to call his chosen family.

In Ten Bridges I've Burnt, Brontez Purnell—the bard of the underloved and overlooked—turns his gaze inward. A storyteller with a musical eye for the absurdity of his own existence, he is peerless in his ability to find the levity within the stormiest of crises. Here, in his first collection of genre-defying verse, Purnell reflects on his peripatetic life, whose ups and downs have nothing on the turmoil within. The thirty-eight autobiographical pieces pulsing in Ten Bridges I've Burnt find Purnell at his no-holds-barred best.

Winner of the Speakies award for the Best Self-Help Audiobook Read by the author, Suzi Ruffell, this audiobook includes exclusive behind-the-scenes conversations between Suzi and special guests, including Romesh Ranganathan, Josh Widdecombe, Tom Allen, Maisie Adams, Rosie Jones, and her mum. 'A...

The real-life Alex Vause from the critically acclaimed, top-rated Netflix show Orange Is the New Black tells her story in her own words for the first time—a powerful, surprising memoir about crime and punishment, friendship and marriage, and a life caught in the ruinous drug trade and beyond...

“I’m determined to get to know the real Tommy, to trace the shape of my scars.” For years, Tommy Dorfman turned her back on her thoughts and emotions, hoping they’d simply go away. After a lifetime of confusion, she finally gained clarity around her gender and began to transition. ...

Are you feeling confused or uninformed about your gender identity? Look no further! If you're questioning your gender identity, you're not alone. Many people have struggled with understanding their gender and finding a place where they belong. This book provides a safe, inclusive, and informative space to explore and understand your gender identity.

Tom LeNoble’s life has been anything but ordinary, rising from the “Shack” with no hot water to the heights of Silicon Valley, and helping build some of the world’s most influential companies. He’s been a crowd-favorite performer, a bold leader, and a survivor of two life-threatening illnesses after being told three times he had six months to live. He’s navigated the AIDS epidemic’s heartbreak, personal loss, and the high-stakes world of Facebook, Walmart.com, Palm (HP), and MCI (Verizon), guiding startups and leaders through change.

The Male Gazed grapples with the thrall of masculinity, examining its frailty and its attendant anxieties even as it focuses on its erotic potential. Masculinity, Betancourt suggests, isn't suddenly ripe for deconstruction—or even outright destruction—amid so much talk about its inherent toxicity. Looking back over decades' worth of pop culture's attempts to codify and reframe what men can be, wear, do, and desire, this book establishes that to gaze at men is still a subversive act.

Updated and expanded: A new edition of the inspiring memoir by one of Canada's most unusual, successful and socially conscious businesspeople. "I am different. I have always been different. I grew up scared of being found out, scared of my natural inability to fit in, to conform, to look and...

One winter's night in 1976, over 20 million people in Britain watched John Curry skate to Olympic glory on an ice rink in Austria. Many millions more watched around the world. Overnight he became one of the most famous men on the planet. He was awarded the OBE. He was chosen as BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Curry had changed ice skating from marginal sport to high art. And yet the man was - and would always remain - an absolute mystery to a world that had been dazzled by his gift.

Gareth Thomas had it all. He was a national hero, a sporting icon. He was a leader of men, captain of Wales and the British Lions. To him, rugby was an expression of cultural identity, a sacred code. It was no mere ball game. It gave him everything, except the freedom to be himself. This is the story of a man with a secret that was slowly killing him. Something that might devastate not only his own life but the lives of his wife, family, friends and teammates.

Hello Stranger is a book about chance encounters—at a bar, through social media, in a bathhouse—and what a stranger can reveal about who we are and who we could still yet be. A stranger, after all, is a site of endless possibilities. As Manuel Betancourt looks back on his past relationships, he turns to characters and narratives that helped him question notions of what monogamy and coupledom (and relationships and marriage) can and should look like.

Holding On by a Thread is a heartbreaking and eye opening memoir that combines the tragic consequences of transitioning from male to female with the hopelessness of isolation and lost love. Set in the heart of a major city, the story revolves around the Wolscht family and their struggle with Paul's transgender issues, as she becomes Stefonknee. Through the eyes of Stefonknee, listeners are taken on a journey of discovery, suffering, and unexpected tragedy as she endeavors to create her new life as a woman coping with mental illness, homelessness and incarceration.