So I thought I’d wrapped up with The Literary Others event after Annabel, but I realized I had time to sneak one more into the group! And what better to do than add one that someone else suggested. Tom, one of the editors, filled out my lovely comment form and offered me a review copy of The Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard and I figured why not add it to this month’s event. And it was at this point I realized I’d read at least one piece of work from Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Intersex, but hadn’t read one primarily for Trans and though it was a great addition! I did not receive any sort of compensation and below is my honest opinion.

As with most collections of short stories you have those you love and those you don’t. And with this collection I really felt it was hit or miss. Some were great and others were difficult to read, not as well written, or just too bizarre for me to truly appreciate. But with that being said the editors did say in their introduction

“We hope that these stories make your life better, either by showing you something new, or by showing you something familiar in a new way or from a new voice. Above all, we think [sic] that you find the stories that follow enjoyable, inspiring, and thought provoking.”

And they definitely achieved this in my opinion. Léger goes even further into this in notes from the publisher publishers discussing uses of this book in a classroom,

“…a talented professor will push them [students] beyond this interpretation, beyond a reading of any book that isolates the work into a comfortable bubble, discrete from the decisions they make in the ‘real’ world…the luckiest students are those whose professors force them to ask ‘What do I want the world I live in to look like?’ and ‘What can I do to realize that world?’”

Click here to continue reading.