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Book Chat: The Booker Prize

By Elizabeth Parker

This month I'd like to discuss two books by very prominent authors which a number of you have called to my attention.  Both of these books were in the running for the prestigious Booker Prize this year and as a result were mentioned in numerous reviews.  I would not presume to compete with the Washington Post's reviewer, but I will present the transgendered perspective.

I've decided to feature "Breakfast on Pluto", by Patrick McCabe, even though I will not recommend it for your purchase.  This is because the entire book is about a transvestite prostitute, "Pussy" Braden.  Even though there really are some good scenes in the book, but it is written in a very artsy manner, skipping around in time, and consequently suffers from the standpoint of enjoying a transgender read.

Patrick Braden grew up during the Troubles, not far from the North/South border in the small town of Tyreelin, Ireland.  He was the bastard of the local priest and his beautiful mother, who turns into an alcoholic tyrant.  Fleeing their influence for the questionable life to be found on the streets of London, he becomes Pussy, plying her trade in miniskirts.

Through Pussy's vulnerable quest for love in all the wrong places and all the wrong people, she has some interesting encounters along the way to say the least.  I found these to be quite amusing.  She also naturally gets drawn into the struggle for independence, and inadvertantly makes her mark for the cause.

As a work of literature, this is quite good, well worth being a candidate for the Booker prize.  I found it by turns amusing and poignant.  It is also significant in that McCabe chose to write such a literary work about a subject near to our hearts.  But as I mentioned earlier, the thrill factor just is not there.






The next book, "Amsterdam", by Ian McEwan, actually won the Booker prize.
You may remember McEwan.  He is the author of "First Love, Last Rites", a book of short stories with one of the best mainstream transgender forced feminization scenes around.  He has also written at least one other book with a crossdressing subplot; however the name escapes me.

Amsterdam follows two main characters, old lovers of Molly Lane, recently deceased.   Clive Linley is a prominent British composer, and Vernon Halliday is the editory of a classy broadsheet, The Judge.  However the character of interest to us is Julian Garmony, the British Foreign Secretary, a notorious right-winger who many think will be the next prime minister.  Vernon comes into possession of pictures showing Julian crossdressed, taken by a sympathetic Molly.  The depiction of Julian in the pictures rings quite true to our experiences, and the remembrance of Molly and how she must have aided Julian is quite good.  These scenes of interest are somewhat minor.   What makes this book delightful is what happens as Julian and his family deal with the blackmail, and how Vernon and Clive each handle the situation.  Suffice it to say that this does not turn out the way you would think.

Again though, I would not recommend this for a purely transgender oriented purchase.


And the final update on MX Book Finder, and my travails with Q.M. Dabney & Co.  They finally got me the book I requested, 3 months after request.  Only one problem, they double-billed me, after promising a 10% discount due to my problems! But they finally made good on both the book, and the correct price.  So all four bookstores I tried through the service have now come through.  I will use it again.


Once again, my web site awaits your browser.  I am very slowly updating the references.  I hope to pick up speed during the holidays.

And your tips and some of the discussion threads you've generated are great!  Keep up the good work and we'll all benefit!


Bibliography

McCabe, Patrick, "Breakfast on Pluto", HarperFlamingo, 1998, ISBN: 0-06-019340-9  (Hardback)

McEwan, Ian, "Amsterdam", Doubleday, 1998, ISBN: 0-385-49423-8   (Hardback)

McEwan, Ian, "First Love, Last Rites", Vintage Books, 1994, ISBN: 0679750193 (Paperback)

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