This One Looks Like a Boy: My Gender Journey to Life as a Man

by Lorimer Shenher

Overview

Inspiring and honest, this unique memoir of gender transition and coming-of-age proves it’s never too late to find your true identity.

Since he was a small child, Lorimer Shenher knew something for certain: he was a boy. The problem was, he was growing up in a girl’s body.

In this candid and thoughtful memoir, Shenher shares the story of his gender journey, from childhood gender dysphoria to teenage sexual experimentation to early-adult denial of his identity—and finally the acceptance that he is trans, culminating in gender reassignment surgery in his fifties. Along the way, he details his childhood in booming Calgary, his struggles with alcohol, and his eventual move to Vancouver, where he became the first detective assigned to the case of serial killer Robert Pickton (the subject of his critically acclaimed book That Lonely Section of Hell). With warmth and openness, This One Looks Like A Boy takes us through one of the most important decisions Shenher will ever make, as he comes into his own and finally discovers acceptance and relief.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771644488
Publisher:	Greystone Books
Publication date:	03/31/2019
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Lorimer Shenher is an acclaimed author and public speaker. His first book, That Lonely Section of Hell, detailed his assignment as the first detective on Vancouver’s missing women investigation. It was nominated for several literary prizes and selected as one of the Globe & Mail’s 100 Best Books of 2015.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 Two Lineups (1964-1969) 3

2 This One Looks like a Boy (1969-1974) 15

3 Renée (1975-1979) 30

4 The Polish Stuff (1979) 50

5 Shirley (1980-1982) 62

6 Getting a Flat (1982-1983) 78

7 Uneven (1984-1987) 94

8 A Guy Can Dream (1988-1989) 107

9 Cowboy Poetry (1989-1990) 123

10 The Trinity of Misunderstanding (1990-1991) 134

11 Fish Stories (1991-1997) 153

12 Woman Trouble (1997-2001) 168

13 Sitting on a Pin (2001-2003) 185

14 Expecting (2002-2007) 198

15 The Change (2008-2014) 213

16 Lorimer (2014-2015) 229

17 Child's Pose (2015) 245

18 This Is Who You Are Now (2016) 264

19 The Father, the Son (May 2016) 271

20 Life as a Man (2016-2018) 278

Epilogue 287

Acknowledgements 289

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"[This One Looks Like a Boy] has insight to offer readers, especially ones traveling a similar path."
—Publishers Weekly

"A pointed object lesson into why trans-authored work about transgender experiences remains critical."
—Quill & Quire

“Shenher brings us along on his journey to show readers how his gender transition is the transition of a lifetime and indeed of a life—education and growing up, friends and lovers, vocations and avocations, the family that raised him and the one he’s raising himself, his entire world.”
—Laurie Frankel, New York Times-bestselling author of This Is How It Always Is and Goodbye for Now

Editorial Reviews

04/01/2019

Shenher (That Lonely Section of Hell), a former Vancouver Police Department detective, relays the journey that led to his decision in his 50s to transition from female to male. For as long as he can remember, Shenher writes, he knew he was born in the wrong body. For much of his adult life, he painfully resisted doing anything about it, an experience his therapist likened to “sitting on a pin.” The story follows him from his early childhood in Calgary through various milestones of womanhood (developing breasts, having a first sexual experience with a boy, coming out as a lesbian, giving birth to the second of his three children) that Shenher found traumatic. Other narrative threads follow his lifelong love of basketball, the circuitous evolution of his working life leading to the VPD and his first book (about serial killer Robert Pickton), and his relationship with his father. Dialogue is used in some banal moments, such as buying a hamburger, but big moments—coming out as transgender for the first time, or telling his wife he’s finally decided to transition—are summarized rather than given fully realized scenes. Shenher’s play-by-play style works best when he seriously decides to investigate transitioning; the process of gender affirmation is laid out clearly and succinctly. This is a straightforward account of one person’s experience, not a complex exploration of broader phenomena, but it has insight to offer readers, especially ones traveling a similar path. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly