My Life as a Boy: A Woman's Story

by Kim Chernin

By turns provocative and startlingly revealing, MY LIFE AS A BOY is the story of a woman trying to figure out what love is, trying to understand what happens between desire and the determination to possess the object of that desire, and discovering what it's like to go after what you want. "Chernin writes with the grace of a poet and the insight of a psychotherapist, bringing the shape-shifting nature of intimate relationship alive."--San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Queer, LGBT, Womens

204 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Kim Chernin (born May 7, 1940, Bronx, New York) is an American fiction and nonfiction writer, feminist, poet, and memoirist. She has published fiction, non-fiction and poetry.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Superstition Review · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boys, in a patriarchal society like the Western world, are conditioned to act a certain way in certain situations. As are girls, as are men, as are women. What happens when a person molts their gender to become something new?

With this concept in mind, we are introduced to Kim Chernin, a born woman who is becoming a born-again boy. To the chagrin of her longtime husband Max, Kim uses her budding relationship with Hadamar, a stunning woman, to facilitate her metamorphosis.

Women here seem to be damsels who go from distress to distress, from rescuer to rescuer. Boys, on the other hand, are impetuous rogues who can pursue whom they please without too much reprisal or reprimand. (Oddly, girls and men are almost never mentioned as personality types.) Boys and women are not simply genders to Chernin, but archetypes, colored bits of glass that shift in the kaleidoscope of what it means to be in love.

Eloquent and open, Chernin gives us a modern reversal on Orlando for American readers.

By Julie Matsen

[Abi Mott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I came across this book at a book fair and bought it for no other reason than the title. I thought it might be a memoir about transitioning, & quickly realized it was about embracing androgony in some self definition way.

The story is often mind-numbingly slow and repetitive. I lost interest in the narrators obsession with the woman who obviously won't love her in the way she wants to be loved, & found nothing revolutionary about her reflections on being more boylike. In fact I found her views to be hyper patriarchal, which is something she half-admits in a few sentences at the end.

I would have liked this more if the flowery writing style had been sharpened & the story moved easily-- or, maybe if she had written different book.

[Barnacle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book more than once, and will probably read it again one day. It is one of those books that depending on where you are at in your life is going to have an effect on how the reading goes. I related alot of my gender issues to the main character in this book, even though she was a middle aged woman, married/divorcing with kids at college.

[Clivemichael · Rating 3 out of 5]

She writes well, provocative and anticipatory, how she reaches out without actually tasting the fruit testing her limits in an intense ride of self discovery. Slow going in places as she waxes eloquent on the indecisive mind. Loved the well illustrated family dynamics. An excellent slice of life.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tedious, self-indulgent story of a very, very special snowflake indeed.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was confusing for me and I probably would've tossed it aside if it weren't written so beautifully. The author is an artist with words, I'll give her that. Also, having the story take place some where that I'm familiar with added extra appeal. But I'm confused by what the author meant when she suddenly decided she was a boy. Especially with all the light being shed on gender and identity lately. She seems to take on the stereotypical qualities of a male in order to seduce a gal she falls for and repeatedly states "I'm a boy now," but that's as far as she goes. Is she transgendered or just confused by her bisexuality? Maybe she just embracing her inner male? I'm not sure, and since I'm not a member of the LGBTQ..... community I feel like I'm missing something despite trying my best to be open-minded. I'd be curious to hear (read) another's perspective.

[Ren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got so caught up in Kim Chernin's lush prose that I didn't realize I was halfway through the book--and absolutely NOTHING happened. In no way do I wish to invalidate her experience, but it wasn't as thrilling and revelatory a ride for me.