Tango: My Childhood, Backwards and in High Heels

Powerful, heartbreaking but also very funny (at times) story of the early childhood of Mx Justin Vivian Bond, a trans cabaret performer who I've had the pleasure of seeing live a few times. (excellent show!)Reading Mx Bond's account of growing up trans, I had flashbacks of my own childhood growing up as a tomboy and also having some of the same issues with being boxed into gender stereotypes. (think "Scout" in To Kill a Mockingbird - that was completely me) Now it would have been much easier for me to go to school wearing lipstick, but when Bond does it, it causes a huge scene with V's mother. Classic! Bond's tales accurately capture the awkwardness of discovering one's own sexuality. It also reveals the recent discovery that V has Attention Deficit Disorder and how that came to light.I feel that this book greatly helps promote understanding of what it's like to not easily fit gender "norms", also enlightening and encouraging to those who feel a bit different. <3

There are not many childhood memoirs of gender variant, i.e. gay, boys. After all, being gay does not start in adolescence. This part of GLBT history has been recently overshadowed by the many autobiographies of transwomen, which are important but tell a different story. The gay community has tended to minimize the wide range of gender variance of gay men in its fetishistic attraction to the macho-man "ideal." Why can't Quentin Crisp be one of our ideals? This brief memoir makes a great, readable addition to the gay male literature. It also deals in a realistic way with the male-on-male sexual exploitation of a young gay man, which is another story that needs to be heard. I praise the author for his courage, and encourage others to read this touching book.

Tango is Justin Vivian Bond's debut, a beautifully understated exploration of what it means to grow up different, in a society that makes one choose: blue or pink, boy or girl. This is foremost fine storytelling, however, a bittersweet recollection of the author's early explorations with a boy, who refused to accept his sexuality, and its consequences in adulthood. The prose is effortless - though no doubt Bond spent much time refining and crafting V's work to make it that way - and the poetic foreword by Hilton Als helps posit the work in a bigger, human picture: that difference should be encouraged; cherished, even. Also see Bond's album Dendrophile; the surprise release of the year. Captivating.  DendrophilePink Slip  ....

This is the third time I've bought this book because I keep giving my copies to friends. Not great literature, but it's great for people to know that there's life outside the gender binary.

Love her cabaret work but this autobiography is an appetizer rather than a full meal.

I am a long time fan of Mx Bond, and this is a tender, thoughtful back story to v's career. My only complaint is that I wanted more.

For fans of JVB, this book is a must-read! A fantastic childhood memoir that reminded me of Sandra Bernhards "Confessions of a Pretty Lady." Brilliant

Excellant read from an amazing artist!