Connie Panzarino 👏👏

Edited to add: Image description: A white person, Connie, sits in a wheelchair at a march or rally. They are wearing a grey blanket and green beanie, with a trach tube and I believe a sip-puff device. A green sign is attached to their wheelchair saying “Trached lesbians eat pussy without comin up for air!” with an upside down pink triangle with a ♿️ symbol in the triangle. Another white person stands next to them with short bleach blond hair.

So far I’ve been very impressed with how Lovatt writes so many of the differences, caveats and contradictions within queer/trans communities and histories while remaining super clear, concise, engaging, and intro-level friendly. I see that some folks dislike the writing style but I love the blend of memoir/history/adding to archival work with bits of fiction/theory.

Has anyone found an audiobook of this anywhere? I really want to listen to it! (Even if narrated by other people.)

Help me get into this book! Were there articles/podcasts/etc that helped you place this book/get up to speed with background knowledge if you were lacking it? Or, is background knowledge less important because perhaps Mehta is writing a much more “universal” type of story - which to be frank I am a bit biased against because everything we experience is so tied up in our culture/language/geography/ecology/material reality.

I am realizing that I often don’t get into fantasy books as much if I can’t locate the real-world specifics that the author is drawing from. I think this may be why I gravitate more toward near future sci-fi/speculative fiction but anyway- I did watch an interview with Mehta which helped some. But as someone who knows very little about Indian history/culture, and barely remembers reading one Calvino book 25 years ago (in said interview she made it clear that she’s a Calvino FAN), I feel like I need some things to reference!

I think I’m also maybe just not in the right mood to read this right now but I’m pretty sure if I don’t continue I never will and I want to give it a chance based on all the stellar reviews!