The Testosterone Files: My Hormonal and Social Transformation from Female to Male

Unlike most authors of transsexual books out there, Max can actually write, and the book is worth reading even if you have no interest in transsexuality. There is no self-pity or whining in this book. The author is honest about the difficulties of being a transsexual, but he's matter of fact about it (when he's not being funny). He describes his experience is the same way he talks about his punk rock life and weird friends. It's an adventure: scary, thrilling, perplexing, and risky but ultimately worth it.

What I found most interesting about this book was its portrayal of the profound differences between the way men and women think, act, and feel. Max is an intelligent, sensitive, and self-aware person who has had the opportunity to show more experience life as both a woman and as a man. As far as I know, there are no other memoirs out there that describe this experience and it's eye-opening to read Max's firsthand account of how his sex drive, feelings, and even sense of smell are affected by testosterone. For every woman who has ever suspected that men and women are REALLY different, this memoir is a compelling account of what those differences feel like. show less

Pretty mixed feelings about this. He's a great writer, but I just don't buy his premise that T made his politics and beliefs about women's rights change all on its own.... I'm sure he wants to believe that. Towards the end he makes his first motions towards "Hmm, maybe I shouldn't indulge every manly impulse I have, T or not. Maybe some of them aren't acceptable no matter where they come from." So there's that.

An accurate and revealing look at what happens physically and emotionally when one changes gender from female to male.