Some of the Parts by T Cooper

by T. Cooper

In sparse, evocative prose, T Cooper tells the story of four splintered Isak is a "gender freak" to the world at large. Taylor is so simultaneously perfect, yet useless, that she is paralyzed. Her mother Arlene is lonely and pill-popping, while Arlene’s brother Charlie faces the unexpected—even unwanted—prospect of being healthy with HIV. Fractured lives in various forms of exile eventually join to re-forge a definition of family from the ashes.T Cooper received an MFA in fiction writing from Columbia University. For some time, T doubled as T-Rok, a member of the heart-throbby Backdoor Boys performance troupe. T’s work—both fiction and non-fiction—has appeared in a variety of magazines, journals and anthologies. This is a first novel.

Genres: Fiction, Queer, Transgender, LGBT

Paperback

First published September 1, 2002

About the author

T COOPER is the author of four novels, including the bestselling "The Beaufort Diaries" and "Lipshitz Six, or Two Angry Blondes," as well as a brand-new Young Adult book series entitled "Changers." Cooper edited an anthology of original stories entitled "A Fictional History of the United States With Huge Chunks Missing," and his most recent book is the non-fiction "Real Man Adventures" (just released in paperback from McSweeney's Books). He has also written for television, and is the co-founder of a new Empathy Project, Wearechangers.org.

T Cooper was born and raised in Los Angeles, attended Middlebury College in Vermont, and then taught high school in New Orleans before settling in New York City in 1996. He earned an MFA from Columbia University, and in addition to his books, Cooper's work has appeared in a variety of publications and anthologies, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Believer, One Story, Bomb, Electric Literature, The Brooklyn Review, The Portland Review, Document, and others. His short story "Swimming" was one of "100 Distinguished Stories" in The Best American Short Stories 2008 (ed. Salman Rushdie).

Cooper has been awarded residencies to The MacDowell Colony, Ledig House International, and The Millay Colony (where he was The New York Times Foundation Fellow). Not too long ago, he was a visiting faculty member at Middlebury College.

Cooper also adapted and produced a short film based on his graphic novel "The Beaufort Diaries." The animated short, directed by the book's illustrator Alex Petrowsky and starring actor David Duchovny, was an official selection at several film festivals, including Tribeca Film Festival, South By Southwest, The New Orleans Film Fest, The Worldwide Short Film Festival, and the Anchorage International Film Festival.

Cooper enjoys vintage airplanes, M*A*S*H, the great outdoors, world peace, buckwheat pancakes, and anything to do with pit bull advocacy. He lives with his wife and kids in New York and the South.

Reviews

[Imogen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somebody- I think it was Katie Kaput?- asked me a couple weeks ago what my definition of trans art was. I didn't have a good answer at all, so I was like, I don't know- I'm trans and if I make art, I guess that makes it trans art? But that is a stupid answer. I have no idea what trans art really is in 2009 (or 2002, when this was written)- I mean, I guess there's always good ol' drag, but that's more of like a post-gender art, or a gay art, or ... doesn't really fit my experience of being trans. Even though I always think it would be fun to be a big scary drag queen.

That first paragraph isn't really super relevant to anything except that I vaguely recall T Cooper and maybe Kate Bornstein talking about trans art in an old issue of, maybe, Punk Planet? This is such an unhelpful description. My point is just, I had all these expectations in my head that, when I finally got around to reading this, it would totally show me the way. But what the fuck would the way be? A novel about trans people? Some kind of special magical perspective re: gender, when I've mastered being trans and all *I've* learned about gender is that it's kind of stupid (sometimes bad stupid, like hegemony, and sometimes good stupid, like monster movies)?

So yeah. This was a good book- not a great book- that didn't even really have anything to do with being trans, except that there's a character I'd attribute genderqueerness to, even though nobody ever uses that word. And even though I get mad sometimes when people attribute genderqueerness to me .

Instead it's just a kind of sad novel about some people who do some stuff and who have some stuff done to them. And it's well done, the structure works, you like reading the characters, but ultimately it is not going to blow anybody's mind; like they said one time on the Simpsons, it's just a bunch of stuff that happened.

Although- the fact that it's just a bunch of stuff that happened, that there is no grand design or message or insight, really; the fact that it's just this novel that's sympathetic to all four of its very different characters- maybe that's what makes it a good example of trans art? Even though it doesn't say the word trans anywhere and even though, as far as the author bio is concerned, T Cooper wasn't identifying as trans, at least when it was published. And nowadays doesn't seem to use pronouns at all.

Ultimately: I don't know.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another early adulthood "am I gay?" read of mine. I find it interesting/disturbing that the L Word has, without acknowledgment, co-opted this title (almost: Jenny's book is called "Some of Her Parts") for one of their lame (but dramatic!) storylines. Whatever, I recommend it - it has nothing at all to do with simpering lesbians in LA, and everything to do with gender, family, and just trying to make it.

[kelsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book was pretty good but i had a lot of trouble focusing while reading it. despite reading almost the entire thing, i wasnt able to finish it because it just didnt keep my interest.

[Selena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the Parts begins with Isak getting the part of the hermaphrodite “gender freak” in a circus. I began to think that the book was going to be like Geek Love but it wasn’t. Each chapter in the book is devoted to the point of view and mindset of one of the four main characters in the story.

"Some of the Parts is about families - the ones we’re born into, and the ones we create."

Isak is the gender freak who once used to be a lovely little girl named Thea. Isak is Charlie’s roommate and it is never really specified though it is implied that they are something more than that. Charlie is a homosexual male who is positive for HIV but living a remarkably strong and healthy life. They both live together in an apartment in New York City. Charlie also happens to be Arlene’s brother. Arlene is a pill-popping middle-aged divorced woman who runs her own antique shop in New Jersey, I think. And last but not least is Taylor, who is Arlene’s perfect, stunning, gifted but bored daughter. Throughout the story, you see how their lives and the little events that happen tie them all together.

I do have to say though, her characters fit certain “stereotypes” and “identities” but I didn’t feel like that was the point. In fact, I felt like that was completely the opposite of what she meant to say. She used these “stereotypes” to show that you could just be hurt and lonely and that was completely separate from the fact that you were HIV positive.

To begin things, Isak ends up leaving Charlie who has just proposed moving to live with Arlene. She somehow ends up in California, with her parents, who can’t stop calling her by her former name, Thea. And that’s where she meets Taylor, Charlie’s niece, for the second time. Taylor is a soul who doesn’t understand a life where she is not wanted as an object. As a sexual thing. But Isak isn’t interested. Together, they drive across the country, not really interacting with one another, just driving. All the way to Arlene’s front step. Where Charlie is waiting with the boy dog named Mary. For both of them.

This book doesn’t have a lot of climaxes, and anyone expecting a really traditional story isn’t going to get it. Through T Cooper’s book we are able to see how interconnected we are, how it can all come full-circle. She writes each chapter through a specific person, sometimes having two characters speak on the same event, letting us feel like we know them and understand them. Maybe even that we are them.

I did enjoy reading this book, in all of its 246 page glory. I’m just not sure that it was enough, if that makes any sense. I finished it, and the story had tied its own loose ends, but it felt like there was something missing perhaps or like I wanted to know something more. I haven’t spent enough time away from it to know what that is yet. I’m sure it will come to me.

[Joe · Rating 1 out of 5]

It took me over three weeks to read this 264 page novel, not because I'm a slow reader but because it was so painstakingly hard to get into. I kept reading, waiting for something, anything to happen. Writing about four loosely related, depressed, one-dimensional individuals with no plot or real story to tell does not make a novel.
We have Arlene, the so-called pill-popping divorcee. She only popped pills ONCE in the entire novel! Taylor, Arlene's bisexual oh-so-beautiful, I'm-bored-with-life-because-I-get-everything-I-want-without-trying daughter. Cry me a river! What's so bad about living in a mansion with a multi-millionaire movie producer who loves you? Or having a lesbian lover who wants to make you a partner in her B&B? Charlie, Arlene's brother dying of AIDS related illness. Pluhhhease! How many times has that story been told? In this day and age, so few people are dying of AIDS related illnesses unless they're not taking their medication. And Isak, a girl living as a boy/male hustler and Charlie's roommate/whatever. The dynamics of their relationship is never explained and after trudging through 200+ pages you just don't care.

Adding to this is the narrative told in each character's voice. It seems as if the only character Cooper is not comfortable with is Taylor. Taylor's chapters are written in a detached third person narrative that didn't seem essential to the storyline. I found myself dreading reading her chapters as her story could have been told through the other narratives. Arlene, Charlie and Isak are written in an engaging first person narrative, which made their stories easier to get into, but switching from first person to third person was a bit disruptive to the novel's flow. Arlene was the most interesting character to me. Some of the Parts could have been told completely from her POV and would have been a far more entertaining read.

Cooper's writing is mediocre, rife with stereotypical cliches not interesting enough to make you want to read it again or recommend it to anyone. Possibly the most compelling aspect of the novel is the cover art. Save yourself the grief and skip Some of the Parts.

[Mersini · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel. It is, essentially, the story of four people, connected by family ties, who begin to connect in other, unprecedented ways; it is the story of distant family members coming together as each fights their own battles, even as they don't know exactly what they want.

I enjoyed all parts of this novel - the confusing bits, the frustrating bits, the bits that made you hopeful - all of it. There isn't much of a narrative, no linear story to follow; you come into the lives of these people, who feel like people, not characters, and then right back out again, a voyeuristic journey that forces you to watch the way life can render people far apart or bring them back together. Perhaps the most interesting part of this novel is the fact that they are not all straight white males, but that there is one who seems to not have a specific sexuality, one who does not have a specific gender identity, one who is more than just a mother, and one who is more than a gay man with AIDS. This novel is very much about the facets of people's personalities and lives, quite literally this book is about "some of the parts" which make up a person. You close this novel thinking 'I wonder what happens next', but you're still oddly content with not knowing, trusting that everything works out the way you hope it will.

On a different note, pertaining to style, I could not understand why three of the characters were in first person, while one, Taylor, was written in third. Perhaps because Taylor is what the three others have in common to begin with, though I doubt that theory. In any case, it struck me as strange, but somehow relevant, like Taylor was out of touch with herself as a character and that was reflected in the style of the novel, whereas the other three were much more aware of their sense of being.

It's a novel I definitely want to read again, and I suspect I will enjoy it all the more the second time around.

[Lord Beardsley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just couldn't with this book. I read T Cooper's marvelous "Lipshitz 6" a while back, which I thoroughly loved -- I count it up there with "Everything Is Illuminated" when it comes to Jewish/Familial post-Holocaust fiction. I loved that it took on another layer with the narrator's trans identity. This book, however, big 'ole nope.

It falls into every pitfall that a first novel can experience: trying to say and do too much, confusing story lines that go nowhere, meandering and a tad too wish fulfilling and self-indulgent for its own good. It's clear that the author felt the need to express himself in the character of Isak who is a hot beautiful "gender freak," and while I'm all for representing different identities/diverse characters -- I just felt like this was another example of an author wishing too much to be a character, but without that character really being developed beyond a safe fantasy.

The novel was supposed to be about a self-made family of outsiders coming together, but this doesn't happen until the last few chapters. Up until that point, each character drifts from point A to point B without a whole lot happening to keep the reader intrigued.

It's a good study on how not to write a novel, especially one with multiple narrators. Also the shifting from first to third person narration was criminally bad and should never be attempted.

I know this review is harsh, and I respect T Cooper enormously. I just really felt like this novel needs to sort of be forgotten immediately and I'm glad he grew from this experience. Now everyone should go out and read "Lipshitz 6" and never pick this book up. Sorry T.

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of The Parts was a good read. There are four characters related by blood and/or friendship, and circumstance. Each chapter is told from one of the characters point of view. There's Taylor, a twenty something year old, who's used to sliding thru life, breaking hearts of older suitors/lovers because she can't be contained and doesn't really know what love is. None of her tricks/ways work on Isak, born a girl, mistaken for a man. At the beginning of the novel he is working for a freak show. Is it a boy or a girl? type of deal. His roommate, Charlie (Taylor's Uncle) is dying of Aids and he can't deal, moves to L.A. for a while, visiting his parents, meeting up with Taylor. Then there's Arlene, Taylor's mom, and Charlie's sister who's a pill popping woman who doesn't know how to relate to her brother dying of Aids and her daughter who she worries about and who is a mystery to her. It's great when they all come together and you get to see how they deal with each other.

I liked the simplicity of this novel as far as the writing goes and how easily as the reader we are allowed to slip into the lives of these characters.

[Laura Motta · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting, occasionally frustrating novel focusing on four characters whose intersecting lives are fraught with loneliness and upheaval. Nicely structured, with each chapter alternately told from the perspective of a different character, the stories ring painfully true. The exploration of these difficult, multi-faceted relationships -- a mother and her estranged daughter, a seriously ill brother and the reluctant sister he's decided to move in with, a couple with an ambiguous romantic status, a faltering new friendship -- is the highlight here.

On the downside, the writing -- which can be so brilliant at times, especially in the dialog -- can be annoyingly bland and contrived. This is particularly true in the first two chapters, where we're meeting the two younger characters for the first time. I only kept reading beyond that second chapter because of the immediacy and strength of the character's voice in the third. This is definitely a worthwhile read. Just get past those first 40 pages.

[Ciara · Rating 3 out of 5]

i picked this up at the library because i liked the cover, which is a collection of photobooth pictures. pretty shallow, huh? it's been maybe six months since i read it, but that doesn't mean i remember it that well. let's see...i know there is something about a pair of roommates who have a somewhat co-dependent friendship. one of the roommates is infected with HIV & the other roommate spends a lot of time taking care of him & worrying about his health. i think there is a teenage girl who maybe has a troubled relationship with her mother. i have to admit, i am shocked at how little of the plot i have retained. to be fair to myself, i read it the same week i moved, so i was pretty distracted & just reading it in short chunks between packing & stuff. i guess the story is basically that family is important, even/especially when it is a family of your own creation, like the familial bonds you build with friends. that it's the people who are there for you when you are sick or depressed or going through a really difficult time that become your true family. or something.

[Lina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will preface this by saying this book does not really have a plot. But honestly, that is not a major concern for me. I do not need a clear beginning, middle, end with an intro, climax, denoument.

This book is told in four narratives (Taylor's being the only one not told in the first person, interesting). It basically follows the lives of the four characters through a period of their lives. The prose and dialogue is done well and is realistic. I definitely underlined/dog-eared a few lines and pages, there were quotes and passages that were worth coming back to.

One thing I found funny is that the author wrote something about everything going on was like an indie movie, it was all so important but no one could understand why. She was poking fun, but the book is very similar to the movies she was referring to. Maybe that's why I liked it so much?

This book is thought provoking, but still manages to be a quick read as it pulls you in. I wouldn't say I couldn't put it down, but it was almost there.

[Aly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the last line of this book (and the ending in general) so much that I tattooed it on my wrist. Full disclosure: I'm friends with and was once quite crushed out on the author. I read the book initially after we met (at Meow Mix in New York of all places) to see if there was any talent and/or substance behind the charm and cuteness. And much to my surprise, (since I tended back then to only attract trouble,) the book was one of those rare few that I didn't want to end. I remember rationing the last few pages and then instantly missing the characters when I finished.

Five years later, Meow Mix is closed and we're just friends. But I still look down at my tattoo and fondly reflect on (some of) the old days and what the line means to me.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books of all time. I probably re-read it about once a year. Literarily it gets off to a rough start with some really obvious metaphors and slow moving prose, but smooths out by the end, almost in tune with the resolution of the plot. Cooper's treatment of the nature of families that transgress blood boundaries is true to life and moving. I reread it so often not because of its literary value (it isn't the best-written book I've ever read) but because so few novels move me in such a genuine way. Almost the opposite of Two Girls, Fat and Thin, the plot of which didn't move me at all, but the prose of which profoundly affected me.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

yeah, it was pretty good. it was hard to follow in that way that books that split narratives into multiple voices/plotlines often are. it took a while to see how the multiple characters would interact and unlike other authors, say irvine welsh, there is no obvious difference between the narrators' voices to make clear who is narrating. once i got the plot and characters down, yeah, i was feeling it.

[SGK · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in my last year of undergrad in a Gender/Passing and Performance Class. The author came to our class to do a reading. It was fab dahling.

[Jessica Grubb · Rating 5 out of 5]

palm springs

[Michelle Hailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

main character is sometimes annoyingly self-destructive.

[Straw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well the writing was good but the ending was abrupt and deeply unsatisfying.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I seem to be on a big T. Cooper kick lately and I simply adored this book.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very revealing story about the human condition.

[Kaitlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

good character development, commentaries on gender perception in society, hardly any plot. seemed to just end abruptly.

[Marci Blackman]

Impressive first novel.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wouldn't have even given it one star if I could have given it none and had other people see reviews. HORRIBLE book. Disgusting- crude. Don't bother.

[Sassafras Patterdale · Rating 2 out of 5]

really wanted to like much more than I did but probably a case of it's not you it's me- should give this a second chance

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this nice, quick read. It was very character driven without feeling like it needed more plot. Much the same way "Wolf in White Van" by John Darnielle give a snapshot of life without having a "happy ending," this acknowledged that things happen to people and sometimes it isn't always happy, or sad, or for a reason and all we can do is react and grow.