4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Build community! Organize! Practice Activism!, June 23, 2006
This review is from: Drag King Dreams (Paperback)
Building community, organizing, and practicing activism, are three strong currents in Leslie Feinberg's Drag King Dreams.
More specifically, Drag King Dreams traces the journeys of the protagonist, Max Rabinowitz.
Some of these journeys are late night/early morning commutes to and from the bar where Max works. Seemingly innocuous, Feinberg illustrates the way such commutes, which are humdrum for most, are fraught with threats and dangers, often harmful, and sometimes deadly for Max and others like him.
Some of the trips Max takes are virtual ones into a universe where even with created, cyber bodies, we manage to socialize in ways that marginalize those who are perceived as different, but where outsiders pulling from a bank of shared signs still manage to find one another and connect. These virtual worlds are also places where Max learns that though there are rules in place that have determined and constructed the worlds as such, there are other rules and ways to re-construct and build them alternatively.
Then there are the emotional journeys Max takes towards and away from his friends, those he's chosen as his family. At times the bonds of love among Max and his friends are so fierce that it's almost impossible to imagine a tighter knit, more committed, or stronger community. The way in which they pull together to protect, support, and encourage one another is a testament to the deep power of such unselfish love. And yet despite Feinberg's inclusion of this much needed glimpse into an ideal, sometimes utopian love, ze also reflects other elements of hir characters' humanity--their bursts of anger, moments of desire-driven jealousy, they fear-filled recoil from others' touches, etc. Overall, Feinberg paints hir characters in all their marvelous complexities, while never letting go of the conviction that unity is possible. In the end Max's final moves are closer towards his friends, the larger community, and perhaps most significantly towards himself.
It is these interpersonal and intrapersonal journeys throughout Drag King Dreams that showcase Feinberg's ability to tell an important and touching story about the intertwined lives we live, and the need for us to join in struggle with one another, fighting the wars (literal and metaphorical alike) side-by-side until justice is achieved. Ze doesn't make it seem as if such coalitions are easy, but does tell hir story so well that despite the difficulties, we are utterly convinced of the absolute necessity of just complicated, hard work.
(I must make clear here that these are but a minor fraction of the various journeys Feinberg takes readers on in this novel...there are just too many gems in this book to write about them all here--I will say, though, that other journeys of note included lingual journeys through Yiddish chronicling Max's connections to his Jewishness and journeys through addiction, recovery, and the accompanying struggles towards serenity.)
Feinberg's writing is beyond compelling, and anyone who finishes reading this book and isn't moved to action of some kind, well...just isn't awake.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Masterful... Feinberg triumphs as an author, March 6, 2007
This review is from: Drag King Dreams (Paperback)
This book is an outstanding piece of writing. Feinberg's controlled prose leads the reader through the twists and turns of the narrative. The characters are sketched deftly. Exactly as in real life, the details are revealing and concealing in equal measure. We tread lightly because the subject matter can be senstitive, and as the reader, I found myself almost forced to read between the lines. Not even aware that I was doing so, I filled in the blanks, made assumptions.
As the narrative unfolds, a dozen little threads emerge. Sometimes its not always obvious how they will come together. But stick with the story, for Feinberg will lead you to a dazzling climax. In the final scene of the book, (SPOILER WARNING!) as the characters' names are called out, I cringed. In that one instant, Feinberg holds a mirror to the hypocrisy of my politically correct, gender-based assumptions. Feinberg humbles us with honesty. Feinberg's triumph is that ze does not tell the reader anything that we don't want to know, ze makes us realize that identity / a sense of self, transcends social stereotypes. In that climactic moment, Max' journey of self-truth and hope resonate with the reader. The book is a tale of hope, aflame with the complexities of contemporary New York and brought to life through Feinberg's brilliant, compassionate writing.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth the purchase price, May 10, 2008
This review is from: Drag King Dreams (Paperback)
All in all, Drag King Dreams is an entertaining and inspiring novel. The characters are interesting and not at all cliche. It's compelling.
I must say, however, that it's hard to read this without wanting to compare it to the author's first novel, Stone Butch Blues, which was by far a superior work, in my opinion. If you haven't read Stone Butch Blues, I would recommend to read that one instead, or first. If you have read it already, this is still a well written and interesting story and well worth the time and money.
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