Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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

Calpernia's writing style is very eloquent. Her words paint vibrant pictures of thought and feeling seldom found in an autobiography. She made me smell the candles, feel the air, see the swirling leaves and feel the pounding of cold rain. Fortunately, she never made the leaves or the rain 'dance' anywhere (oh, just read the book and you'll know what I'm refering to). As if I were in her very skin, I could see, taste and smell the church food and festivities, the clubs, even Barry. I could easily recognize the voice of a woman's heart crying out for validation, for love... for justice.

Despite her well-honed use of words and description, I felt that the story languished in the day-to-day world of her childhood without offering the clear contrast of the gender and sexual orientation sruggle going on inside of her. In many ways it seemed like any other novel about growing up in the south. Thereafter, the book takes us through snapshot moments of her life without clear relevance or continuity in the context of the whole story. The final "epilogue" chapter was more like just another chapter instead of an actual epilogue. I felt that the book was a bit herky-jerky: laborously long in some places and rushed in others and no real sense of tying some things together. It was much like getting out a photo album and talking about this moment and that moment over coffee. Thus, I gave it 4 stars.

That said, I cannot impart upon the prospective reader enough what an important work this is and a worthy read. It will take you on an emotional journey that brings you to the center of your own heart, if you have one.

I, like most of the other reviewers, loved the book, but like only one other reviewer, wanted more. The beginning of her life, up to where she joined the Navy was an awesome sketch of her life to that point. After she got out of the Navy, I wanted more detail about how she came about truly wanting change in her life and the steps she took to go about creating that change. I know that the subject matter has to be quite personal, sensitive and difficult to recount, but I wished that the end of the book had been more formed. I did enjoy her writing style, however, and look forward to anything else (a supplement for this book, maybe?) she may write.

A fantastic account of one woman's journey to find herself. Calpernia Addams shares her inner pain and strength, as she struggles with religious intolerance, sexuality, and gender conflict. Her childhood with a "fire and brimstone" church reminded me so much of my own childhood it was almost as if it were my story and not someone else's. I remember church camp....it was my story too.

Great book from a talented author and actress.

I'll start by saying I watched "soldier's girl" first, and it broke my heart. So when I received this book for christmas '09 this year I was excited to hear Calpernia's life story and how she stayed so positive in the face of such adversity at every angle. My heart was breaking for her fight to find herself, and her family's stubborn ignorance was frustrating. I love her ability to paint pictures with her well carved words and make you giggle at the craziness of life itself. I encourage anyone to open their minds and then their hearts to her wonderful story telling of her own tragic yet inspiring life....