12/31/07

"Not only a navigational aid for any woman contemplating gender change by one who's been there, but a heartfelt plea for mainstream American society to understand, accept and support gender diversity.

"Going bare-chested in public, having to change his car's tire without help for the first time, trying out a fake phallus, getting rebuffed in the Internet romance game, using a public men's room, going to a gynecologist for an annual Pap test, attending a conference with hundreds of other female-to-male-transsexuals -- Kailey describes all with frankness, and by engaging his reader with honesty and a touch of humor, he makes his life seem less alien that it might first appear to the straight world.

In Kailey's ideal society, there's a place for every sexual persuasion--straight, gay, lesbian, transsexual and the intersexed -- and the only way such a world can come about, he believes, is if people like himself speak up and show everyone who they are. If educating the public means sacrificing his privacy, Kailey seems willing to go far to get  his message of tolerance out.

An eye-opener, sometimes shocking, but never smutty."

--Kirkus Reviews

"Anyone who has ever contemplated, is just curious about, or finds him or herself in the midst of gender transformation will appreciate and applaud this extraordinary, comprehensive journal. Both informative and quite fascinating, Kailey delivers his life story with a compassionate eye and a true heart."

--Jim Piechota, Bay Area Reporter

"... this book is a natural for the gender issues shelves."

--Booklist

"The book is almost a Prairie Home Transsexual; Kailey's low-key folksiness and dash of self-deprecation are a welcome contrast to stereotypes of transsexuals as both pathetic and bizarre. ... Just Add Hormones is friendly and accessible enough to appeal to someone who is curious about what it's like to transition from female to male, and also has enough depth and substance to appeal to those who spend a great deal of time thinking about gender. Kailey is effective at speaking from his own experiences, exploring the issues raised by those experiences, and respectfully outlining the diversity of transsexuals who have a different take on life. Highly recommended."

--Nadyalec Hijazi, Eros Guide

"This assertive hybrid of informal memoir and informed how-to guide is both a serious account of one person's transsexual experience and a genial exploration of gender transition. Kailey -- a 42-year-old straight woman when he began therapy, surgery, and testosterone shots -- never claims to speak for every trans person, and consistently acknowledges the trans community's diversity. Nonetheless, the FTM raconteur's wide-ranging discussion of the ramifications of reassigning one's sex ably addresses the medical, physical, and emotional issues for anyone considering it.

Parts of Just Add Hormones dwell, wittily, on the author's own experiences -- he's changing his own tires now, he's considered odd if he coos at a new-born baby, and nontrans friends aren't 'copping a feel' when they touch his breast-less chest. Other chapters offer a cheeky insider's discussion of pesky pronouns, pants-packing, bathroom blues, and on-the-job jitters. But the real worth of Just Add Hormones stems from its thoughtful analysis -- at times philosophical, at times political, and at times polemical -- of a life-changing decision."

--Richard Labonte, Book Marks

"[A] carefully observed anecdotal memoir of a transman's experiences as he navigates his changing physical and social realities. Full of surprising insights and I -never-thought-about-that experiences...His experiences are real; it's society's firm dichotomies within gender and sexual orientation that remain fiction."

--Girlfriends magazine

"Courageous, insightful, and often humorous ... Just Add Hormones is one of the more thought-provoking books on what it means to be a man."

--Chris Kenry, author of Confessions of a Casanova

"Just Add Hormones successfully transcends the great gender divide. With great care, Matt Kailey guides his readers through the easy questions, the embarrassing situations, and the challenging change-of-life moments that are specific to his life, but common to many transsexual people. His book paints an accurate and entertaining landscape of transsexual life at the turn of the century."

--Kate Bornstein, author of My Gender Workbook and Gender Outlaw

"Anyone who has ever felt inaccurately evaluated from the outside in -- and who hasn’t? -- will relate to Kailey’s courageous, humorous, and informative tale of transition and self-acceptance."

--Wendy Shanker, author of The Fat Girl’s Guide to Life

"Kailey is the ideal tour guide for this unforgettable journey into the transsexual experience. Funny, forthright, and thought-provoking, he demystifies a misunderstood subject with patience and good humor and tells his own story with unusual candidness. This is the perfect primer for those of us with transsexual friends and loved ones, those on their own path of self-discovery, and those who simply have questions about it all."  

--Michael Thomas Ford, author of My Big, Fat, Queer Life

"If I were transitioning, I'd give this book to my mother. Matt Kailey makes the wild frontier of gender highly accessible."

--Kirk Read, author of How I Learned to Snap

"Smart, logical, funny, and very real. Matt Kailey is a strong and witty voice for the rational aspect of transsexualism. It really does make sense when you learn to loosen your grip on definitions of sex, gender, and sexuality that have more to do with creating labels than understanding real people. Just Add Hormones can help us all get real."

--Jamison Green, author of Becoming a Visible Man

"Matt Kailey turns awkward territory into clear terrain -- and speaks to all
of humanity. He is funny, compassionate, visionary, and exceptionally sane."

--Tama J. Kieves, author of This Time I Dance! Trusting the Journey of Creating the Work You Love/How One Harvard Lawyer Left It All to Have It All!