Combining memoir with experimental form, the book’s 22 chapters explore his process of coming out as a trans man after being a successful “funny gal” online (“bet I won’t fuckin’ turn into a dude!” he joked, a mistaken prophecy), common cis reactions to transition, and his relationships with community, friends, and family. Lavery, Shock and Discredit was released under the name Daniel Mallory Ortberg, and you’ll find other writings under his middle and former last name). Lavery writes advice as Dear Prudence for Slate, founded the hilariously feminist website The Toast, and has two previous books, Texts From Jane Eyre and The Merry Spinster. So we can all say, ‘It me, this happens to me too, isn’t this embarrassing, let’s all link arms and walk away.’ This book is more, ‘Oh, I found something embarrassing? I’m going to take a bath in it now.’” “A lot of my work pre-transition was characterized by finding a moment of embarrassment, but I would end it there. “It’s a book with a lot of embarrassment at the core,” says Lavery, when he arrives. I’m taking up a whole table in a crowded coffee shop, by myself, which is embarrassing but also auspicious, because I’m meeting Daniel Lavery to talk about his newest book, Something That May Shock and Discredit You (Atria, February 2020).
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