A chatty, breezy summary of an often-challenging, sometimes exceptionally difficult life. It provided some useful context to Bornstein's other work, but it stayed too surface level in some ways, did too much "telling" versus "showing," which is a significant danger in autobiography, especially one as wide-ranging and full of sensitive topics as this one. ( )

Can I give something zero stars? Well, this would be the one if I could. Just awful. Awfully written and very self-congratulatory. Not worth reading. ( )

I don't know why I left the last 20 pages unread for over a year. I started over and read the whole thing again in a matter of days.

Kate Bornstein has led an interesting life by anyone's standards. There's a little something for everyone in her memoir: she started a closeted trans hippie boychick, then took to the sea on L. Ron Hubbard's personal yacht, rising to become a high-ranking Scientologist and parent who was excommunicated upon discovering a dark secret, and seized the opportunity to metamorphose into a prominent and very out S&M dyke journalist, actor and writer. Pick it up: you know you want to know how it all fits together.

Be ready for detailed descriptions of disordered eating, cutting, and suicidal ideation. ( )

The most fascinating part of the book for me were the parts of the book detailing Bornstein's stint in Scientology. Those bits were so interesting that I actually found the rest of the book a bit of a let-down in terms of keeping me engaged. A very interesting memoir. ( )

2012. Interesting view into early Scientology cult. And interesting queer subcultures in San Francisco and Seattle. Tons of S/M stuff. Kate is a foremother to all gender outlaws, and her words give me life. See her live if you can. She’s a great speaker. ( )