Reviews and Comments

Published in 2007 so some of the book is dated, but it's still an excellent work to read today. Serano coined the term "trans-misogyny" and several other terms that appear in this book. "Oppositional sexism," sexism arising from the naive assumption that male and female are rigid opposite sexes, is such a useful concept I wish that term had caught on as widely as trans-misogyny.

Beautiful. Fierce. And heart-wrenching at times, there's a lot of trauma covered here. Author is a trans POC.

It's a journalist telling the story of 20th century global colonialism as implemented by the CIA and US State department. We learn about the topic through stories about some of the people affected by the murderous programs. Stories based on interviews make the book more accessible than a more academic approach. So if the topic of neocolonialism is new to someone, this book would be a good entry point.

When the subtitle refers to an "anticommunist crusade" it seems to reinforce Washington's propaganda. I would have preferred the cover to name it accurately as "colonialism".

The book focuses on Southeast Asia and Latin America. Those are not the only places in the world where the CIA was active in disrupting local governments. I would have liked to see wider geographic coverage, but I suppose the journalistic approach taken by the author made that difficult to accomplish.

Paints a picture of what life was like for queer and gender non conforming people in the 1960s ­­– 1980s.

Not an easy read. Full of traumatic experiences including multiple instances of assault. I had tried to read it once before but I only got 3 chapters in and decided it wasn't good for my own mental well being to keep going. A few years later when I was feeling stronger I tried again and I'm glad I finally made it through.

I learned a lot. The authors cover several events I hadn't heard of. The analysis is from an anarchist perspective.

I've enjoyed everything I've read from Nalo Hopkinson including this novel. I'm still trying to figure out everything that happened at the end though. I've finished reading the book but in a sense I'm not finished with the story.