Mark 947: A Life Shaped by God, Gender and Force of Will (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: backstage manager, Boot Camp, Church Camp, Brother Jerry (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Mark 947 chronicles one woman’s progress from spirit to flesh, a literal transubstantiation by force of will. Born a boy to loving but religious parents in the rural heartland of Tennessee, Calpernia Addams found her way on an unlighted path from forbidden dreams to fulfillment as a scholar, showgirl and eventually, as a woman.

Sultry stage siren by night, intellectual chameleon by day, she worked her way to the top of Nashville’s underground entertainment scene without ever succumbing to drugs, alcohol or bitterness, and through it all never lost her heart. When love walked into her new life in the form of a handsome young Army private, it seemed everything had at last come together. Then at the pinnacle of her career, as she was crowned Tennessee Entertainer of the Year in front of hundreds of adoring fans, her love was murdered in his sleep sixty miles away by bigoted fellow soldiers, sparking a national controversy that resonates still.

Whether ablaze in the dazzle of the spotlight or haunting the woods of Tennessee in flannel and pigtails, Calpernia lives her life with the humor and spirit of a woman who can face anything and still move forward with hope intact.

About the Author

Nashville native Calpernia Addams expresses herself creatively wherever she's living, from fiddle playing in Operation Desert Storm's trenches, to theater productions in the Aleutian Islands. She currently lives in Los Angeles, looking for the perfect coffee house and developing media projects through her production company Deep Stealth.

Product Details

• Paperback: 258 pages
• Publisher: IUniverse (December 31, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595263763
• ISBN-13: 978-0595263769
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #706,096 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A poignant view of a fascinating life, February 25, 2003

By	Christine Beatty (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a transsexual woman, Calpernia Addams has walked an incredible path. Aside from her strict Fundamentalist upbringing, she was dragged into a national spotlight after her boyfriend was murdered in a 1999 "gay" bashing on an Army base. Such is the range of experience so touchingly recounted in Calpernia's autobiography Mark 947.

In the bible the book of Mark, chapter 9, verse 47 begins with "And if thine eye offends thee, pluck it out," a dramatic metaphor for the sex change that she'd wanted for many years. The title of this work is a jab at the biblical scripture she was bombarded with from early childhood. To escape this strict world, and her own inexplicaple feelings, Calpernia ran away to join the Navy, ending up in Desert Storm. Later, on a lonely outpost on an Aleutian island, she becomes increasingly aware she does not fit in as a guy.

The remainder of the story details an ongoing awakening into her sexuality and gender, from her first steps in "drag" to her crowning as Tennessee's Entertainer of the Year. Sweetly yet tragically, these pages introduce and then all too quickly take away the love of her life, Army PFC Barry Winchell who loved her as his girlfriend. The final chapters vividly portray her anguish, the dazed nightmare of the murder trial, and her beginning steps into acceptance.

This is an amazing and touching first book, one that I would recommend to anybody.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well-written book by an obviously brilliiant artist!, August 6, 2003

By A Customer

What blew me away upon reading this is how superlative this is compared to other TS autobiographies. Calpernia is a seriously gifted writer! She has written here possibly one of the best autobiographies I have ever read, TS or not. Her prose is beautiful, her memories flow logically for the reader, and the whole book is laced with humor. She conveys her feelings very clearly, without falling into cliche. She also does not attempt to whitewash her life. It is all here, even the parts that are clearly the most painful to her.

If you decide you have to read one TS autobiography in your life, this is the one you should read! Calpernia has written a truly amazing literary journey! This book also stands up as great art. I mean that. I think that she should continue to write books. She is gifted, and could write great novels.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Womanhood was a state of being.", September 6, 2005

By	anomie - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

Amazon Verified Purchase

Calpernia Addams came to national attention when she was named as the transgender lover of Private Barry Winchell. Winchell, who suffered continuous harassment for his relationship with Calpernia, was brutally beaten to death by another soldier at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The excellent film "Soldier's Girl" is the story of their relationship. "Mark 947: A Life Shaped by God, Gender, and Force of Will" is Calpernia Addams' courageous memoir describing her childhood, her identification with the female sex, her decision to become female, and her relationship with Barry Winchell.

Calpernia was born a male and named Scott--the eldest of three children born to a fundamentalist couple in rural Tennessee. A strict, barren upbringing was alleviated by a progressive high school--although Calpernia's parents, unfortunately, curtailed this. Unable to connect as a male, Scott drifted into the navy and served as a medic in the first Gulf War. Finally discovering the courage to live as a woman, Calpernia moved to Nashville, attended university, and became a nightclub entertainer.

A large portion of the book concentrates on Calpernia's narrow, suffocating childhood. Raised to accept strict doctrine, somehow Calpernia was capable of independent thinking, and instead of sinking into her family's way of life, she reasoned her way through feelings of alienation and lack of identity as a male. Ironically Calpernia's strict upbringing allowed her to discover a niche in the Navy, as many of the restrictions placed upon her as a teenager covered her lack of machismo when attending boot camp. Calpernia states that her "religious upbringing had allowed me sanctuary" from engaging in raucous behaviour. She describes the agony of being surrounded by men, wanting their attention, and affection, but being afraid of saying the wrong thing. The memoir is quite detailed when discussing moments and pivotal events that influenced Calpernia's life. While the author is not a professional writer, the writing is good. In one passage, the description of a dead body manages to convey the incident's powerful impact on the author, and it's clear that this incident helped energise Calpernia into making the decision to become female--displacedhuman