Many think that issues of transition are a recent  occurrence . . . some even peg it to the news frenzy when Cher’s daughter Chastity announced she was transitioning into a man, Chaz.
Think again.
Becoming a Man: The Story of Transition (Simon & Schuster, $26) explores one man’s gender transition amid a pivotal political moment in America. For 50 years, author P. Carl lived as a girl and a queer woman, building a career, a life and a loving marriage . . . yet still waiting to realize himself in full.  As Carl embarks on his gender transition, he takes us inside the complex shifts and questions that arise throughout—the alternating moments of arrival and estrangement. He writes intimately about how transitioning reconfigures both his own inner experience and his closest bonds—his 20-year relationship with his wife, Lynette; his already tumultuous relationships with his parents; and seemingly solid friendships that are subtly altered, often painfully and wordlessly. Carl blends the remarkable story of his own personal journey with incisive cultural commentary, writing brilliantly about gender, power, and inequality in America.
His transition occurs amid the rise of the Trump administration and the #MeToo movement—a transition point in America’s own story, when transphobia and toxic masculinity are under fire even as they thrive in the highest halls of power. Carl’s quest to become himself and to reckon with his masculinity mirrors, in many ways, the challenge before the country as a whole, to imagine a society where every member can have a vibrant, livable life. Here, through this brave and deeply personal work, Carl brings an unparalleled new voice to this conversation.
FYI: On March 26, 2017 Carl became a man.