Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man
AuthorThomas Page McBee
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreMemoir
PublisherScribner
Publication date
August 14, 2018
Media typePrint
ISBN9781501168741

Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man is a nonfiction book by Thomas Page McBee, published August 14, 2018, by Scribner.

The book was a finalist a Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Nonfiction[1] and was shortlisted for The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction[2] and the Wellcome Book Prize.[3][4]

Background

McBee began regularly writing about masculinity in The Rumpus, which led to his first book, Man Alive, in 2014.[5] During this time, he was transitioning and "wrestling with the implications of embracing a gender responsible for so much hurt in the world."

In hopes of improving his self-defense skills and further investigating masculinity, McBee began boxing and eventually participated in a charitable boxing match,[5] making him the first transgender man to box in Madison Square Garden.[6]

Reception

Amateur received a starred review from Publishers Weekly,[7] as well as positive reviews from Kirkus,[8] The New Republic,[9] Buzzfeed,[10] Booklist,[11] The Rumpus,[12] The Guardian,[13] Los Angeles Review of Books,[14] and Shelf Awareness.[15][5] Kirkus called the book "[p]rovocative and illuminating".[8] Writing for Shelf Awareness, Dave Wheeler noted that "McBee ponders these sociological implications [of masculinity] with refreshing care and empathy, untangling a positive depiction of masculinity from the toxic strains paraded through contemporary discourse. His writing is marvelous, pinning ideas that could so easily be abstract to the visceral, physical poetry of boxing."[5] The Rumpus called it "a must-read for parsing through the many layers of toxic masculinity and white privilege in American culture that allowed Kavanaugh to be seated on the Supreme Court."[12]

The Financial Times[16] and The A.V. Club[17] provided mixed reviews. Robert Armstrong of The Financial Times said, "Amateur is a heck of a tale, and McBee is a gifted memoirist. He is particularly good at communicating his own fear and ambivalence—both in crossing the gender frontier and in learning a sport that draws on a brutal code of male behaviour that his experience has given him reason to reject." Writing for The A.V. Club, Amanda Goldblatt noted that the book covered "countless topics... a lot to pack into such a thin volume, which weighs in at just over 200 pages," meaning the "discussions can sometimes feel fleeting, moving more like a feature article than a book."[17] However, Goldbatt complimented McBee's "genius for association and nimble structural moves."[17]

The book was included on lists of the best memoirs, best nonfiction, and best LGBT books of 2018.

Awards for Amateur
Year Award Result Ref.
2018 The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction Shortlist [2]
2019 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Nonfiction Finalist [1]
Wellcome Book Prize Shortlist [3][4]

References

  1. 1 2 Boureau, Ella (2018-03-06). "30th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists Announced". Lambda Literary. Archived from the original on 2020-03-19. Retrieved 2022-01-11.
  2. 1 2 "The Baillie Gifford Prize 2018 announces shortlist". Baillie Gifford Prize. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  3. 1 2 Flood, Alison (2019-03-19). "Wellcome prize shortlist celebrates books about masculinity and mental illness". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-03-20.
  4. 1 2 Filgate, Michele (2019-03-19). "Awards: Wellcome Shortlist; Blue Peter Winners". Shelf Awareness. Archived from the original on 2020-08-05. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Wheeler, Dave (2018-07-13). "Review: Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man". Shelf Awareness. Archived from the original on 2019-06-19. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  6. ↑ "Thomas Page McBee". centre de cultura contemporània de barcelona. 2019-04-05. Archived from the original on 2021-01-18. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  7. ↑ "Nonfiction Book Review: Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man by Thomas Page McBee. Scribner, $24 (224p) ISBN 978-1-5011-6874-1". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  8. 1 2 "Amateur". Kirkus Reviews. 2018-06-18. Archived from the original on 2022-01-14. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  9. ↑ Livingstone, Jo (2018-08-28). "A Trans Memoir Explores Masculinity In Extremis". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  10. ↑ Rebolini, Arianna (2018-08-31). "35 New Books To Get Excited About This Fall". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on 2018-09-01. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  11. ↑ Amateur. July 2018. Archived from the original on 2022-01-14. Retrieved 2022-01-14 – via Booklist.
  12. 1 2 "What to Read When You Want to Celebrate Pride". The Rumpus.net. 2019-06-21. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  13. ↑ Guest, Katy (2018-10-26). "Amateur by Thomas Page McBee review – a trans boxer's life lessons". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 2018-10-26. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  14. ↑ Glazner, Greg (2015-01-04). "Becoming a Man: A Memoir of Sex, Gender, Trauma, and Transformation". Los Angeles Review of Books. Archived from the original on 2017-07-10. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  15. ↑ Wheeler, Dave (2018-08-14). "Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man". Shelf Awareness. Archived from the original on 2018-08-26. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  16. ↑ Armstrong, Robert (2018-08-24). "The fight stuff: what makes a man?". Financial Times. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  17. 1 2 3 Goldblatt, Amanda (2016-08-06). "The first trans man to box in Madison Square Garden spars with masculinity". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 2018-08-06. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
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