Book Review: She’s Not There

By Jennifer Finney Boylan
Reviewed by Bill London
from the October 2003 Newsletter

In 1984, Gina, Willow and I moved to Moscow, finding affordable accommodations by sharing a large home on Seventh Street with a series of enjoyable (usually) housemates. A few years later, when a room came open, one of those housemates suggested that we rent that space to her friend Justin, a young college student.

Justin was soft-spoken and friendly, and seemed like a good fit, so he moved in. A month or so later, Justin went into the bathroom and came out in a dress. He announced that he was a “transsexual,” that he was now becoming a she, and that we were to call him (oops, her) Justine from then on.

We had a few questions for Justine, of course, and gradually came to understand her perspective, as a female who somehow was born with male genitals. (Explaining this all to Willow, who was then about 8, was surprisingly easy.) I couldn’t think about this process without grimacing at the idea of the “cut” that would render Justine anatomically female.

Which, I realized, is the point. Nobody would want to go through this process unless they were in fact suffering from living with the wrong kind of plumbing parts.

And as we continued to live with Justine, it was glaringly obvious that Justine was female. As a fellow guy, he (oops she) was all wrong. As one of the women of the household, she fit right in.

Ever since that time, transsexual (now the term has been upgraded to transgendered) issues have interested me. Is gender not so black and white, are shades of gray possible, or even likely?

Which brings me to the book “She’s Not There,” published by Random House this year, and authored by Jennifer Finney Boylan. Jennifer was James for the first 40 years of his/her life, and a novelist and college teacher. Finally, after a lifetime struggle, which is clearly detailed in this autobiography, Jenny finished the therapy, hormonal additions, and finally the surgery. James became Jennifer. Jennifer still lives with his/her wife Grace and their two children, and the depth of their love and anguish is really the focus of the book.

And what a great book it is. Sometimes funny, sometimes pathetic, and always worth reading. In sum, get this book if you want an understanding of the special courage of those who are so determined to be who they are.

This book is available at BookPeople, or from the Moscow Public Library.

Bill London edits the Moscow Food Co-op's Community News, and this month celebrates with Gina our 32 years together.

© Copyright on articles, recipes and images are jointly held by the Moscow Food Co-op and the respective contributors, except were otherwise noted.

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