Abby Stein (3) (1991–)

Becoming Eve is both a memoir which recounts Abby Stein's early life as a member of a Hasidic Jewish family and her realisation that she's a trans woman, and an explanation of a sheltered and separationist religious community—in her case, the Hasidic communities of Brooklyn—to secular non-members. English is not Stein's first language, nor even her second, so I'm willing to grant her a lot of leeway on her prose on that basis, but while I found this an interesting and even important show more read, I didn't think that it was that good as a book. It's at times fairly surface/basic in terms of analysis—as if it was being written with say a teenage audience in mind—and there's surprisingly little in here at all about her actual transition or the two years or so leading up to it. I would have liked to read more exploration on Stein's part about what happened during that period, especially since she hints that the period between the birth of her son and her leaving Williamsburg was a time of intense dysphoria/crisis, but I presume that this is at least in part to protect her ex-wife and son. show less

Pretty standard trans memoir, but the insight into Chassidic Brooklyn was very interesting!

Edit: It's pretty funny that this is apparently a mashup of a bog-standard Off The Derekh* memoir and a bog-standard trans memoir, and reviewers are mostly reacting positively to the part they're not already familiar with. TBH, good for her. She had to go through it, and there's clearly a hunger for both narratives from the cis/non-frum mainstream, so she deserves to take the easy money and run!

* (off show more the path; leaving orthodox jewish observance) show less

Who could fail to be intrigued by the description of this book? Unfortunately, it doesn't deliver on its promise.

Yes, it is a first person account of a dedicated, bright, ultra-orthodox student, studying to be a rabbi, who knows inside that HE is really meant to be a SHE. But it's NOT so much about inner turmoil as it is about student disruption in school -- a way for an unhappy boy to act out. The book is much more about his world of study, gender roles, and traditional rules of Hassidic show more Judaism than it is about being transgender.

You'll find much more focus on and information about the differences between Hassidic sects and "royalty", their educational options, social and religious rituals, and marriage rites than the transgender issue. And at the point where the author decides to finally "come out" to friends and family, it's covered quickly and in less detail and depth than I expected.

The book is also not particularly well-written. Granted the author has had a limited educational experience in English and is only now in college. But I would have expected an editor to have helped add more polish.

On the plus side, if you're interested in the subject matter, it's a relatively short book. show less

Who could fail to be intrigued by the description of this book? Unfortunately, it doesn't deliver on its promise.

Yes, it is a first person account of a dedicated, bright, ultra-orthodox student, studying to be a rabbi, who knows inside that HE is really meant to be a SHE. But it's NOT so much about inner turmoil as it is about student disruption in school -- a way for an unhappy boy to act out. The book is much more about his world of study, gender roles, and traditional rules of Hassidic show more Judaism than it is about being transgender.

You'll find much more focus on and information about the differences between Hassidic sects and "royalty", their educational options, social and religious rituals, and marriage rites than the transgender issue. And at the point where the author decides to finally "come out" to friends and family, it's covered quickly and in less detail and depth than I expected.

The book is also not particularly well-written. Granted the author has had a limited educational experience in English and is only now in college. But I would have expected an editor to have helped add more polish.

On the plus side, if you're interested in the subject matter, it's a relatively short book. show less