Charlie Egon's review of A Queer and Pleasant Danger (original) (raw)

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Charlie Egon's Reviews > A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The True Story of a Nice Jewish Boy Who Joins the Church of Scientology and Leaves Twelve Years Later to Become the Lovely Lady She is Today

A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The True Story of a Nice Jewish Boy Who Joins the Church of Scientology and Leaves Twelve Years Later to Become the Lovely Lady She is Today
by

This book carries a magical type of rawness. When Kate Bornstein tells their story, I really do feel like listening to a queer, trans, nonbinary elder.

It's not a particularly easy read, because the topics that are being discussed are heavy and complicated and, sometimes, a little twisted. I definitely would advise to be careful if you feel uncomfortable reading about self harm, anorexia, (at times unsafe) SM, TERFs or life within Scientology. But while you could put a "lifetime of struggles" stamp onto the book, it didn't actually feel like that.

Yes, the way Bornstein describes their fights with borderline personality disorder, anorexia, and suicidal thoughts does hurt. It's not easy to follow the decades of gender dysphoria, questioning, coming out as a trans woman in the 80s, then coming out as nonbinary in the 90s (before that was a word). Not to forget that the book is entirely dedicated to Bornstein's daughter that is still living within Scientology.

But Bornstein tells it all with such a unique and even light-hearted tone that their words feel like a big hug: I did make it through all of this, and you will too. xoxo, your tongue-in-cheek trans lesbian auntie.

This book is a danger, it is queer and it is pleasant. It made me think a lot about how life refuses to be put into boxes and how sometimes, just by being yourself, you can scare the some people, but also encourage the right ones.

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Reading Progress

September 2, 2020 – Shelved

September 2, 2020 – Shelved as:to-read

January 8, 2021 –Started Reading

January 16, 2021 –Finished Reading

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