- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Firebrand Books,U.S. (Mar 1993)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 156341029X
- ISBN-13: 978-1563410291
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 13.7 x 1.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 259,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Synopsis
Jess, a working-class woman living as a man, survives a period of homelessness, tries to unionize fellow workers, worries about being found out, and searches for community while undergoing a secret transsexual operation.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This courageous and compelling novel by Leslie Feinberg illustrates the life of Jess Goldberg, born gender dysphoric in 1950's America. She comes out as a "butch" in the gay bars and factories, but eventually decides to "pass" as a man when there is no other way to survive. At the end of a plot scarred by emotional and physical brutality, Jess returns to her original he-she identity.
Stone Butch Blues cannot fail to touch anyone who reads it. It is not stated how much of the content is autobiographical, but it does not matter - the reality of the characters and the validity of their experiences cannot be denied. Feinberg weaves her tale among the "old" butches and femmes of pre-Stonewall times, women who wore their difference with dignity and pride and refused to surrender to prejudice, even when it cost them their lives. Butch-femme identities were snubbed by political correctness after their refusal to submit gave birth to the Gay Liberation movement, and were also attacked by radical feminism as being a poor imitation of heterosexuality: Feinberg's novel reveals this forgotten fragment of the past in all its glory and dares us to dismiss it.
The novel is an indictment of the crushing of human spirits by prejudice, and simultaneously a celebration of those who faced their Armageddon and were ready for the battle. Some were destroyed, some survived - all are heroes. Butch and femme are valorised alike, refuting conceptions of the "femme" identity as being essentially weak. The femmes are prostitutes and drag queens who wear their femininity like a weapon, even down to plucking off their stiletto heels to fight the queerbashing cops.
Stone Butch Blues is also an exploration of the nature of gender itself, set among those whose otherness is not located in relation to the opposite sex but in relation to the ideology of gender in general. Many of the butches saw themselves as neither male nor female - as such they can be recognised for their exploration of different possibilities of gender, instead of being accused of lacking the imagination to construct their lives away from the heterosexual paradigm. To reduce these women's lives in this way is to grossly misunderstand and underestimate their complexity. I have sometimes been guilty of this - Stone Butch Blues helped me to realise that I was wrong. Jess does not want to be a man - she is struggling to assert a gender identity for which we still have no adequate words.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This hybrid/crossover between the genre of novel and biography charts the life journey of one individual suffering from the imposition of a gender identity that does not fit. The journey begins with an account of a childhood filled with confusion and follows Jess, the main character, in hir exploration and search for hir real self. It tracks hir forays into a lesbian community, an attempt to find hirself as a straight man through hormonal treatment and surgery and finally culminates in an almost religious enlightenment.
The novel contains scenes of horrific violence, deep sadness and amazing tenderness. It charts the growth of feminism, changes in the lesbian 'community' and the development of medical assistance for trans folk. It is a gripping book and one I was unable to put down.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is, without a doubt, one of the most deep, yet easy to read books I have ever read. It is, reading level wise, easy to digest. However, you should be ready for the content to make you furious, overjoyed, depressed, and hopeful. This author does not do things by halves for certain sure. I couldn't put this book down, and when I finished, I loaned it to a friend. She read it clear through and loved it too, and she never reads if she can help it. It's just that kind of book. You care about the people in it, and that's the greatest test of any book. It doesn't have a terribly happy ending, but if you read the book you don't expect one. Life isn't so easily wrapped up as that. All in all, a wonderful priceless, thoughtful book well worth reading more than once. I'll read it again as soon as I can steal my book back:)
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent
Jess Goldberg has always felt different, even as a small child. She's always felt as though she didn't fit in anywhere. People constantly asked whether she was a girl or a boy. Read more
Published 23 months ago by TerryB
Excellent read
This read took me to another exciting yet harrowing world. It was a page turner for me and I really don't want to say too much else I may spoil the story for you. Read more
Published on 27 May 2010 by Mary Queen of Scots
Fantastic
This is an incredible exploration of female masculinities in the the twentieth century, issues explored here are just as relevant in 2007. Read more
Published on 7 Mar 2007 by J. Hogsflesh
Our Destiny set in STONE
I found this book to be deeply moving. The circle goes unbroken to this day. As a young butch in the 90's I find myself in similar situations as Jess. Read more
Published on 13 Mar 1999
Find Yourself
This book I read in 24 hours and I was absolutely touched by it. It made me relaize who I was and it helped me figure out why I have been struggling with my self identity for so... Read more
Published on 2 Mar 1999
Helped me be proud of who and what I am in the lesbian world
Leslie's work caught me by surprise because I wasn't expecting it to have the impact it did on me. I am not a butch lesbian....I am a "stone femme". Read more
Published on 26 Feb 1999
Blisteringly good
This book is unputdownable. The style, but more forceably, the content is what grips the attention. Outstanding.
Published on 24 Nov 1998
SAD, BUT TRUTHFUL!!!!
I thought it was my life being told by someone else.. It really made me think about how people have treated my friends and I, all this time.. Read more
Published on 9 Nov 1998
You will never want this book to end!
This is an amazingly touching story of life and survival as a butch, but that everyone can relate to in some context. I laughed and cried while reading this book. Read more
Published on 30 Aug 1998
Everyone who wants to be human should read this.
This book is a poignant story of a life which comes full circle, culminating in the discovery of love and self-acceptance. Read more
Published on 17 July 1998
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Fiction > Contemporary Fiction
- Books > Fiction > Gay & Lesbian > Lesbian
- Books > Gay & Lesbian > Literature > Fiction > Lesbian
- Books > Romance > Adult & Contemporary
- Books > Romance > Gay & Lesbian
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
