Through the Jungle: A Traveler's Guide [Paperback]

Samantha Adams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 18, 2004

This book is a rare find, sharing all the joys, stresses, desires, and challenges Samantha faced throughout her first three years of transition. Not always easy to read or glamorous, it details one woman's desire to live fully in this world as her true self. It is a shining example of the resilience of the human spirit and is sure to inspire hope in all who read it.-Kris Keniray, Sexuality EducatorSometimes the greatest adventure a human being can go on is not the discovery of a far-off, distant land. Sometimes the greatest adventure is discovering the secrets that lie within. Through the Jungle: A Traveler's Guide chronicles the story of Samantha's discovery of her true self. Sometimes happy and enlightening, often dark and disturbing, her journey takes you through three years of her life told as it happened through her personal diary.This story gives the reader a glimpse into a world very few people will ever experience first hand, the world of a transsexual male to female.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Samantha Walker Adams is a male to female Post-op Transgender person who is currently active in educating and lecturing in the transgender community. She currently lives in Ohio, where she works in the mental retardation field.

Product Details

• Paperback: 302 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (February 18, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595310028
• ISBN-13: 978-0595310029
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,385,318 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extraordinary journey, March 6, 2004

By 

Kelly R. Novak (Ipswich, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Through the Jungle: A Traveler's Guide (Hardcover)

Of all of the autobiographies of transsexual women that I have read, "Through the Jungle" is by far the most real and honest. Samantha Adams was never a medical doctor, never climbed Mt. Everest, is not a university professor, and never played professional sports. She is a regular woman who endured the transition from male to female.

For three years, during her transition, she kept a diary. Here, we see that this "ordinary" woman used extraordinary courage and stamina to endure hardships caused by family, "friends," co-workers, and even being thrown out of her church just for having the birth condition known as GID.

GID (gender identity disorder, a.k.a. transsexualism) is an embarrassing and emotionally painful birth disorder where the brain gender does not match the physical anatomy. The only known cure for this is social and surgical transition from the wrong gender to the right one. The transition can be the most difficult thing that a person ever does, and we read of Samantha's personal endurance of this important time. In the end, Samantha is now a wonderful and thoughtful woman with an inspiring personal history, and the pain of transition was well worth the rewards.

The book is not sensational, nor is it adult reading material--transsexuality is about gender, not sexuality. It is, however, brutally honest as well as heartwarmingly endearing. It should be required reading for anyone preparing to undergo gender transition themselves.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nature / Nurture - Now we know, April 6, 2004

By 

Sue Mohler (Kansas City, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Through the Jungle: A Traveler's Guide (Paperback)

Now that the professionals are thoroughly confused in their notions of nature and nurture as it applies to gender assignment, it's time we heard from someone who really knows - a person who has actually done gender transition. This story of the day-by-day struggles through childhood and on through adulthood touched me deeply. The genuine feelings expressed on each page say so much more than any statistical analysis done by professionals. By sharing her journal of her own transition, Samantha Walker Adams shows us the inner reaches of her heart. While each person must walk their own path through transition, the path she walked was a long and a tough one.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is considering transition or who has a friend or relative who is doing so. This story of one person's path shows just how heart-wrenching and, at the same time, fulfilling this can be.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Through the Jungle to Life, November 27, 2004

By 

Pamela Bennett - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Through the Jungle: A Traveler's Guide (Paperback)

Excellent book covering so much of the underlying events of transition. The questions, the feelings, and the excitement of changing oneself so completely are written for all to see. This is one of the important "must read" books for transgendered people, their therapists and doctors; along with friends and anybody interested in transgender life. Many of us have difficulty expressing the feelings as Samantha so nicely does in her writing. Anyone can point to a line in any of the chapters and say "this is how I feel" and be understood.

Life is not easy, but it can turn out to be wonderful once you start living it your way, Samantha does that.