My Brother My Sister: Story of a Transformation Hardcover

A feminist film critic’s thoughtful, outspoken memoir about transgender and family On a visit to New York, the brother of well-known film critic Molly Haskell dropped a bombshell: Nearing age sixty, and married, he had decided to become a woman. In the vein of Jan Morris’s classic Conundrum and Jennifer Finney Boylan's She's Not There, a transgender memoir, Haskell’s My Brother My Sister gracefully explores a delicate subject, this time from the perspective of a family member. Haskell chronicles her brother Chevey’s transformation through a series of psychological evaluations, grueling surgeries, drug regimens, and comportment and fashion lessons as he becomes Ellen. Despite Haskell’s liberal views on gender roles, she was dumbfounded by her brother’s decision. With candor and compassion, she charts not only her brother’s journey to becoming her sister, but also her own path from shock, confusion, embarrassment, and devastation to acceptance, empathy, and love. Haskell widens the lens on her brother’s story to include scientific and psychoanalytic views. In an honest, informed voice, she has revealed the controversial world of gender reassignment and transsexuals from both a personal and a social perspective in this frank and moving memoir. On a visit, the brother of well-known film critic Molly Haskell dropped a bombshell: nearing age sixty, and married, he had decided to become a woman. This book gracefully explores a delicate subject from the perspective of a family member. Haskell chronicles her brother Chevey's transformation through a series of psychological evaluations, grueling surgeries, drug regimens, and comportment and fashion lessons as he becomes Ellen. Despite Haskell's liberal views on gender roles, she was dumbfounded by her brother's decision. With candor and compassion, she charts not only her brother's journey to becoming her sister, but also her own path from shock, confusion, embarrassment, and devastation to acceptance, empathy, and love. Haskell widens the lens on her brother's story to include scientific and psychoanalytic views. In an honest, informed voice, she has revealed the controversial world of gender reassignment and transsexuals from both a personal and a social perspective in this frank and moving memoir.--Publisher information. My brother drops a bombshell Flesh and blood My brother kisses his elbow My brother advertises for a secretary and reels in a wife Who has it better, men or women? My brother writes a story A tale of two wives The sculptor of human faces He learns to walk and talk like a dame Ellen becomes a mountain woman Ellen changes her mind, and changes it again Andrew falls and Ellen comes up and shows off her body The year of the transsexual Ellen is a welfare mudder Looking backward and moving forward. A renowned feminist film critic describes her brother's transformation into a woman, including the psychological evaluations, strenuous surgeries, prescription drug cocktails, and fashion lessons he endured to go from being Chevey to becoming Ellen