Provocatively introspective and intrinsically reflective discourses on the human condition.
A selection of interwoven queercentric musings on human existence, identity, and transphobia.
Split into seven intelligent, intuitive segments, transgender essayist Blaxell first addresses the nature of disappointment by sharing an intimate dissatisfaction with a plastic surgeon who congratulates her on her “reasonably functional neovagina,” then admits during their consultation that her “vulva might be a bit of a disappointment” to improve upon. An authority on Asian history and culture, Blaxell elaborates further with a list of three great disappointing places in Japan, then moves on to contemplate her relationship with “W,” a childhood male friend who remained fiercely smitten with her despite the realization that she was “not the kind of girl he imagined me to be.” She painfully reflects on family members and casual sex partners who resorted to abandonment rather than acknowledging and respecting her trans identity. In other equally resonant sections, Blaxell writes appreciatively and fondly about the gender evolution of trans Australian-born writer and researcher McKenzie Wark and how the work of a variety of notable novelists, entertainers, and philosophers (as well as the fallout from several international natural disasters) intersect with humanity, death, and the journey of the trans person. Others make appearances throughout these essays, like her lover, whom she dubs “Fairy,” who provides companionship and commentary on Blaxell’s life and authorial endeavors. She expansively deliberates on modern colonialism, the notion of “God,” and even excrement to make way for meditations on the challenges and difficulties of gender transition, which Blaxell poetically describes as “a journey in time and body through feeling, thinking, relationships, looks, and culture.” While many of Blaxell’s brilliant witticisms, philosophies, and pointed perspectives orbit around trans and queer concerns, her essays expand to encompass the wider human interest readership outside LGBTQ+ communities. Capitalizing on these broad scholarly brushstrokes, she stresses the fierce importance of resistance, independent thought, and, perhaps most critically, bodily autonomy for all human beings.
Provocatively introspective and intrinsically reflective discourses on the human condition.Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781964322995
Page Count: 296
Publisher: LittlePuss Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.
A charming bird journey with the bestselling author.
In his introduction to Tan’s “nature journal,” David Allen Sibley, the acclaimed ornithologist, nails the spirit of this book: a “collection of delightfully quirky, thoughtful, and personal observations of birds in sketches and words.” For years, Tan has looked out on her California backyard “paradise”—oaks, periwinkle vines, birch, Japanese maple, fuchsia shrubs—observing more than 60 species of birds, and she fashions her findings into delightful and approachable journal excerpts, accompanied by her gorgeous color sketches. As the entries—“a record of my life”—move along, the author becomes more adept at identifying and capturing them with words and pencils. Her first entry is September 16, 2017: Shortly after putting up hummingbird feeders, one of the tiny, delicate creatures landed on her hand and fed. “We have a relationship,” she writes. “I am in love.” By August 2018, her backyard “has become a menagerie of fledglings…all learning to fly.” Day by day, she has continued to learn more about the birds, their activities, and how she should relate to them; she also admits mistakes when they occur. In December 2018, she was excited to observe a Townsend’s Warbler—“Omigod! It’s looking at me. Displeased expression.” Battling pesky squirrels, Tan deployed Hot Pepper Suet to keep them away, and she deterred crows by hanging a fake one upside down. The author also declared war on outdoor cats when she learned they kill more than 1 billion birds per year. In May 2019, she notes that she spends $250 per month on beetle larvae. In June 2019, she confesses “spending more hours a day staring at birds than writing. How can I not?” Her last entry, on December 15, 2022, celebrates when an eating bird pauses, “looks and acknowledges I am there.”
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9780593536131
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
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