Review of 'Something That May Shock and Discredit You' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
This is a fascinating collection of essays by Daniel M. Lavery, centered around his experience transitioning as an older adult as well as grappling with religious themes based in his upbringing. It was certainly a fresh perspective on the ‘trans memoir’ genre, as it isn’t exactly a memoir in the traditional sense. Lavery decided to forego specific details in favor of capturing his emotional thoughts more precisely; it worked great for this type of project. I wasn’t previously familiar with Lavery’s writing, though I’m sure I had seen some of his writing floating around.
The essays range from topics like Lord Byron (one of my favorite chapters, of course) to The Golden Girls or even to The Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan. I had never heard of the latter book until reading this one, but it was entirely fascinating. I am areligious, but it is hard not to identify …
This is a fascinating collection of essays by Daniel M. Lavery, centered around his experience transitioning as an older adult as well as grappling with religious themes based in his upbringing. It was certainly a fresh perspective on the ‘trans memoir’ genre, as it isn’t exactly a memoir in the traditional sense. Lavery decided to forego specific details in favor of capturing his emotional thoughts more precisely; it worked great for this type of project. I wasn’t previously familiar with Lavery’s writing, though I’m sure I had seen some of his writing floating around.
The essays range from topics like Lord Byron (one of my favorite chapters, of course) to The Golden Girls or even to The Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan. I had never heard of the latter book until reading this one, but it was entirely fascinating. I am areligious, but it is hard not to identify some of the themes invoked by Bunyan in contemporary American society and thought. Lavery also takes these themes and retrofits them to aspects of gender transition, which was clever and liable to piss off traditional religious types. Kudos for that.
This is perhaps a great example of the opposite of my most common criticism with memoirs—that they lack emotional depth or reflection. Here, it is entirely full of reflection and emotional insights from Lavery. Some of the essays worked better for me than others, partially because I wasn’t familiar with all of the aspects of pop culture he cites, but also because some of his style can be outlandish at times. I wouldn’t confidently say I am a fan of his style, but it was enjoyable enough for a quick read. All in all, I quite liked how it feels like him discussing his thoughts and ideas about certain topics in a casual manner, as with a friend.
Clearly, religion played a foundational role in Lavery’s life, and as a lens for examining his own experiences and formation of identity, it works extremely well. I would recommend reading this one if you are at all curious on his thoughts—not only about his life and his own identity journey, but about these miscellaneous topics that float around in his head.
