One Freak Show!

To say I loved Lynn Breedlove’s newest book “Lynnee Breedlove’s One Freak Show” would be a bit of an understatement, I had to read the thing twice before I could even decide how I wanted to review it! The first time was a quick read in less than 24 hours (I couldn’t put it down), and the second time somewhat slower. My copy of the book is now a mess underlines, and stars and margin notes, combined with my water bottle leaked into my purse and the whole thing got soaked. Which is sort of appropriate for a book that made me incredibly nostalgic for my boyhood- the years I spent shooting T, making zines, wearing carhartts and binders that were only washed every couple of months, and listening to music in punk house basement shows.  Like ‘The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You” this wasn’t a book that spoke to me as a femme so much as it spoke to me as a trans person with a transmasculine adolescence.  It made my past boyhood hard and at attention.

One of the strengths of this book is how it doesn’t take itself or any of us too seriously. One of my favorite sections “Alphabet City” offers us a condensed history of our growing acronym of identities is a fantastic example of Lynn’s talent of making us laugh at ourselves.

I really appreciated the honesty and complexity that Lynn brought to the dilemma of medical transition. As someone who has walked those contradictions, I loved the way that Lynn handled the experience of explaining who we are, regardless of how we do or don’t choose to physically modify our bodies.  The aspect of this I was most drawn to was the way Lynn gave voice to the ways in which many of us actually sculpted our lives and bodies, making them an extension of our art. Furthermore, that this is not something new and that we’re part of a tradition of queers who build lives and bodies in order to live at peace in their skins, like the following excerpt that was written about Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon:

“It was dykes like Del who taught me how to charm the ladies and make a boy with whatever’s lying around the house. Duct tape and some Vaseline. And it was femmes like Phyllis who taught me how to tie a tie, hit the spot (no hands), and wear boxers.  They taught me that we can either hang together or be hanged separately.”

One of the critiques I have for books and stories that could be categorized as trans memoir is the way that we can take ourselves too seriously (something I know I’m guilty of at times) but One Freak Show never fell into that trap- and unapologetically called trannies on our shit which made me love it even more, and consider this a definite must read!

“Dyke, fag, and queer are somewhat assimilated into popular queer jargon, but, because the trans community is the last in the long line of queers to win acceptance even from the LGBT community, if you say tranny, even if you are a tranny, you’ll still get glared at by middle class, educated transfeminist trannies on high alert. So label yourself at your own risk.”

Also, if you’re a femme author, artist or zinester I’d love to review your work for the site! If you’re interested, please shoot me an email at Sassafras@PoMoFreakshow.com

Other posts by Sassafras

• Femme friends are the desserts of my world - July 26th, 2010
• Sunday Morning Cartoons! - July 25th, 2010
• July Femme Prompt - July 1st, 2010
• being out & visible - June 26th, 2010
• The beauty of femme - June 13th, 2010