Stone butch blues transgender warrior leslie feinberg. Stone butch blues is a 1993 semiautobiographical novel by writer and activist leslie feinberg. Leslie feinberg worked up to a few days before hir death to ready the 20th anniversary authors edition of stone butch blues, to make it available to all, for free. Gender identity in leslie feinbergss stone butch blues cram. Theres a nice twist of irony in that every other character in the book is an over the top leslie feinbergs novel is one of those books that pops up on lists of influential or otherwise must read books over and over again.
This internationally acclaimed novel looks at the world through. Feinberg, a warrior till the end, worked on stone butch blues 20th anniversary edition, dedicated to mcdonald, up until a few days before hir death on. Leslie feinberg s stone butch blues is one of the most influential pieces of literature in the queer canon, especially for lesbian and bi women and trans people who found themselves included in the semiautobiographical story of a gender nonconforming person moving through the world as a working class heshe in upstate new york in the 1940s, 50s, 60s, and 70s. Transgender pioneer and stone butch blues author leslie feinberg has died leslie feinberg, who identified as an antiracist white, working.
Stone butch blues, to me, is the greatest, most important queer novel in the world, because it does not only offer an insular experience of difference. Stone butch blues by leslie feinberg 2004, paperback for. Feinbergs novel stone butch blues, which won the stonewall book award, is a novel based around jess goldberg, a transgendered individual growing up in an unaccepting setting. In presenting the daily struggles of a workingclass transgendered person, a person who fits into neither prescribed gender category, leslie feinberg s first novel, stone butch blues 1993, exposes the quotidian practices through which fixed gendered and sexual identities are culturally constructed and systematically imposed. How i wish i could have hugged hir and said thank you. Stone butch blues is one of the most highly regarded homosexual books, having been nominated for the lambda literature award for the novel of lesbians lambda literary award. Stone butch blues, leslie feinbergs 1993 first novel, is considered in and outside the u.
We have not always been forced to pass, to go underground, in order to work and live. Leslie feinberg, a writer and activist whose 1993 novel, stone butch blues, is considered a landmark in the contemporary literature of gender complexity, died on nov. The painful history lessons of stone butch blues eesti lgbt uhing. Free download or read online stone butch blues pdf epub book. Sold by the hundreds of thousands of copies and also passed from handtohand inside. Leslie feinberg, the author of the seminal transgender novel stone butch blues, has died at home in syracuse, new york, at the age of 65. Leslie feinberg s gone and somethings missing its nearly three years since the author of stone butch blues left the world, and riki wilchins is still grieving. Feinberg was the first theorist to advance a marxist concept of transgender liberation.
Transgender pioneer and stone butch blues author leslie feinberg has died she was a pioneer in trans and lesbian issues, workers rights, and intersectionality long before anyone could define the. A novel paperback june, 2012 by leslie feinberg author. Jess, the narrator of stone butch blues, spends the space of the novel looking for a way to authentically exist in the world at large. Despite popular belief, the fictional work is not leslie feinberg was a transgender activist, speaker, and author. Stone butch blues ch 1 read out loud video 1 youtube.
The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 308 pages and is available in hardcover format. If im not with a butch everyone just assumes im straight. Pdf stone butch blues book by leslie feinberg free. A stone butch blues movie betrays leslie feinbergs legacy. Stone butch blues is a novel written by the revolutionary communist leslie feinberg about life as a butch lesbian in 1970s america. Stone butch blues leslie feinberg bookmate woman or man.
The stone butch blues study guide contains a comprehensive summary and analysis of stone butch blues by leslie feinberg. Stone butch blues summary and study guide supersummary. Why is it so hard to find leslie feinbergs stone butch blues. The book has been awarded with stonewall book award for. In leslie feinbergss stone butch blues the main character jess struggles with many obstacles throughout her life, the hardest one being her inner conflict of who she was and who she wanted to be. She is happy wearing her roy rogers outfit, even in temple. This does the canon of american fiction a grave disservice, because feinberg s 1993 novel stone butch blues, the cornerstone of her career, is a very good book by any measure. Leslie feinberg, stone butch blues author and transgender. The author has opened her soul to anyone who reads and exposed us each to our own fears of being different no matter how slight it may be. Ronan is currently studying a ba in international development with spanish at the university of sussex. Leslie feinberg stone butch blues pdf free download.
After alyson books filed for bankruptcy, feinberg embarked on a protracted, expensive court battle to recover hir rights to the novel, eventually winning them in 2012. Leslie feinbergs stone butch blues is a great novel. Stone butch blues by leslie feinberg 17,640 ratings, 4. Leslie feinberg jess goldberg decides to come out as a butch in the bars and factories of the prefeminist 60s and then to pass as a man in order to survive when she is left without work or a community in the early.
New 20th anniversary authors edition of stone butch blues available through both a free digital download and an atcost lulu print version. Author leslie feinberg has done a remarkable thing in the writing of stone butch blues. Stone butch blues was originally published by firebrand books in 1993, and by alyson books in 2003. From her earliest memories, jess goldberg knew she was painfully different from other girls.
Why is it so hard to find leslie feinbergs stone butch. A stone butch has every reason to feel the blues in leslie feinberg s criticallyacclaimed, awardwinning novel stone butch blues. Full text of stone butch blues 20th anniversary author edition see other formats. The first edition of the novel was published in 1993, and was written by leslie feinberg. This study guide consists of approximately 64 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of stone butch blues. For stone butch blues is a seminal title in the queer literary canon.
An obituary written by feinberg s wife, minnie bruce. Her gender identity, which is a persons gendered sense of self, was not the same as her gender comportment or gender expression. Leslie feinberg s stone butch blues cat moses at the violet hour when the eyes and back turn upward from the desk, when the human engine waits like a taxi throbbing waiting i tiresias, though blind, throbbing between two lives old man with wrinkled female breasts, can seet. Leslie feinberg a longtime, internationallyknown activist and awardwinning authorcame of age as a young butch lesbian in the factories and gay bars of buffalo, ny in the 1960s. Stone butch blues was a gateway for me to understanding love, gender expression, and my girlfriend. Full text of stone butch blues 20th anniversary author. According to a recently posted casting call, the classic queer novel stone butch blues may soon become a moviein direct opposition to late author leslie feinberg s explicit wishes. Stone butch blues, leslie feinberg s 1993 first novel, is widely considered in and outside the u. Leslie feinbergs stone butch blues is one of the most influential pieces of literature in the queer canon, especially for lesbian and biwomen. Stone butch blues by leslie feinberg project myopia. Queer literary classic stone butch blues is being turned. In stone butch blues, feinbergs character jess eventually stops taking hormone replacement therapy after realizing that ze.
Leslie feinberg, stone butch blues we have not always been forced to pass, to go underground, in order to work and live. But plans to turn it into a movie have angered fans of leslie feinberg s groundbreaking semiautobiographical novel. Leslie feinberg died three months after i moved to the us. Leslie feinberg reads from her groundbreaking, best selling novel, stone butch blues. In 1993, transgender activist leslie feinberg published stone butch blues, hir second book, a novelized version of hir life so far as a butch lesbian. Transgender pioneer leslie feinberg of stone butch blues. Indeed, stone butch blues is a groundbreaking and monumental accomplishment. Feinbergs first novel, stone butch blues 1993, exposes the quotidian practices. She talks about the setting of the repressive mccarthy period of the 1950s when there was never anything positive said about transgendered, gay or lesbian people. Stone butch blues book by leslie feinberg thriftbooks.