Thomas Page McBee was the first transgender man to ever box in Madison Square Garden. He is the author of Amateur and an award-winning memoir, Man Alive: A True Story of Violence, Forgiveness, and Becoming a Man, which was named a best book of 2014 by NPR Books, BuzzFeed, Kirkus Reviews, and Publishers Weekly. Thomas's writing has appeared in The Rumpus, Pacific Standard, The New York Times, Playboy, and Glamour.
"In an age when identity feels so splintered and fractional,
McBee's empathy with men feels refreshing, but it's his
determination to be accountable that is radical. He resolves his
own masculinity crisis by doing the things men often think they're
doing, but so often are not: listening, asking questions, seeking
help, being vulnerable."
--The Guardian "This examination of masculinity and violence from
writer Thomas Page McBee is utterly readable. McBee...interviews
sociologists, trains for a boxing match himself, and writes about
his relationships to the important people in his life, especially
his late mother, all in pursuit of a greater understanding of
masculinity."
--Los Angeles Review of Books "This book relays a subtle, profound
personal investigation into masculinity and personhood ... McBee's
great twist is to treat masculinity itself as an anthropological
phenomenon, represented by this bloody, extreme sport. Inside the
fight, McBee finds reconciliation."
--The New Republic
"It is no coincidence that the terms "masculinity crisis" and
"toxic masculinity" have become current at a time when leaders such
as presidents Putin and Trump strut the world stage like parodies
of the archetypal alpha male. Who better to explore this crisis
than someone who has had to interrogate, with every cell of their
body, what it means to become a man? ... With exhilarating clarity
and tenderness, Amateur exposes patriarchy for the construct that
it is."
--Sydney Morning Herald "[McBee's] writing asks questions about
gender that he believes are relevant to all people, trans or not
... [Amateur] probes the culture (or cult) of masculinity through,
among other things, his experience as the first trans man to enter
the boxing ring at Madison Square Garden, where he competed in a
2015 charity event when he was 34."
--Newsday "Elegantly demonstrate[s] how men can fight for a better
definition of manhood--one that includes vulnerability, empathy,
and self-expression--simply by fighting to be themselves ...
[McBee] finds the answer not in knocking out another man's
mouthguard, but rather in moments of vulnerability and the
nurturing gestures of other men."
--Quartz
"Thomas Page McBee is a trans man who opts to train as a boxer in
order to fight in a charity match. The training sends him into
uncomfortable territory as he works to unpack whether violence is a
necessary component of the maleness to which he has transitioned.
He provides readers with a fascinating, poignant account of his
desire to push at the constructions of what it means to be a man in
order to better understand himself."
--Signature Reads "This is an extraordinary, humane and
compassionate book about aggression, selfhood and love. Nothing
short of superb."
--Attitude Magazine "When men fight, they are fighting the parts of
themselves they hate, as McBee, himself a victim of abuse,
discovers ... [the account] is interspersed with insights from a
wide range of commentators and experts on issues relating to
masculinity, race, gender and violence. It all adds up to a
gripping and fascinating journey."
--The Press Association
"A no-holds-barred examination of masculinity. McBee describes the
journey as a way of grappling with his newish place in the world of
toxic (and privileged) masculinity ... a compassionate look at what
it means to be a man and the circumstances that have engendered our
expectations. It is in many ways a happy dismantling of these
expectations, an opening of masculinity to make room for love,
support, and tenderness -- something McBee is pleasantly surprised
to find along the way."
--Buzzfeed "Thomas Page McBee's new memoir, Amateur, is a powerful
exploration of the costs of toxic masculinity and the joys of an
authentic life. It is also a classic fight story. Superbly written
and keenly observed, Amateur manages to juggle all of these
elements with grace and wit."
--The Rumpus "McBee is consistently vulnerable--both physically and
in how he shares his experience. Yet at the end of Amateur, after
all the punches, interviews, and introspection, the author does not
arrive at any simple answers. Instead, that initial question about
men and fighting multiplies into larger ones ... While he gets
closer and closer to that eventual fight night in New York, his
investigation of men is made more powerful by this lack of
certainty--ultimately asking whether anyone, including those who
flaunt their political strength in Washington D.C., truly
comprehends the meaning of masculinity."
--Bitch Magazine
"[One of] the hottest memoirs to pre-order for fall ... In this
memoir from Scribner, [McBee] grapples with masculinity, gender,
and violence as he recounts his training to become a boxer."
--The Writer Magazine
"The hot center of this book, the new work that it does, is McBee's
search to identify and adopt ways to be a "better" man. He wants to
know, as a man, how to fight gender inequity ... At a time when
equity of all kinds is being suppressed, Amateur is a reminder that
the individual can still come forward and fight."
--The A.V. Club
"Reading Amateur is watching someone try to simultaneously figure
out who they are, who the world wants them to be, and why. It's
deeply personal and politically vital, a calm and contemplative
antidote to male toxicity."
--The Skinny
"Amateur is Thomas Page McBee's poetic exploration of (sometimes
toxic) masculinity as he trained to become the first trans man to
box in Madison Square Garden. Author of the award-winning memoir
Man Alive, McBee expected men drawn to boxing were motivated by
bloodlust. Instead, he discovers mentorship among men overcoming
weaknesses. In finding the vulnerability guys hope to hide, McBee
finds hope for all men."
--The Advocate
"Sharp and precise, open and honest ... It's hard to overstate how
important and profound it feels to read a personal account of a man
actively examining his own masculinity and privilege in such an
honest way."
--Women's Review of Books "[McBee's] writing is marvelous, pinning
ideas that could so easily be abstract to the visceral, physical
poetry of boxing...McBee displays tenacity on the page and in the
gym, sizing up formidable concepts and engaging them with savvy and
sensitivity. Amateur is more than a boxing story, just as it's more
than a trans narrative. It's a highly recommended case study in
manhood."
--Shelf Awareness "This powerful book chronicles McBee's training
and his attempts at understanding why violence is accepted as an
aspect of American masculinity...McBee's lyrical, achingly honest
exploration of loss and maturation offers a hopeful antidote to
more toxic forms of masculinity."
--Publishers Weekly, starred review "Riveting. [McBee] is a
compelling narrator. A heartfelt glimpse of a trans person's life,
with a very dramatic boxing match bringing into focus the gender
binary...Readers will be able to relate and gain new
perspectives."
--Library Journal "This timely memoir explores male-female power
dynamics in an uplifting story of someone who becomes a new man in
ways even he couldn't anticipate."
--Booklist
"Amateur provocatively describes the ways in which an increasingly
fragile patriarchal culture needs to keep men in their place. A
quest for self-liberation, this loving and deeply intelligent
exploration of contemporary masculinities is essential
reading."
--Deborah Levy, author of Swimming Home and Hot Milk
"In this lyrical, courageous book, the author eloquently probes his
inner life as he searches for the meaning of gender identity in a
world limited by binary thinking. Provocative and illuminating--a
winning follow-up to McBee's acclaimed debut."
--Kirkus Reviews
"Until I read this book, I didn't realize how tired I was of
reading about masculinity as cold, hard, and fixed. Amateur is a
warm hug. It's also an invitation to everyone who's ever struggled
to accept failure, searched for a sense of belonging, or said 'Ugh,
men' in an exasperated tone to think harder and be kinder. I want
the world to read it."
--Ann Friedman, New York Magazine columnist and cohost of Call Your
Girlfriend "Amateur is a brutally honest look at the problems with
masculinity, laced through with hope, and joy, and possibility.
Thomas McBee confronts fears and realities with grace, toughness,
and poetry. A beautiful book."
--Michelle Tea, author of Black Wave and How to Grow Up "Thomas
Page McBee's Amateur takes a classic, well-worn subject--a man
whose fight with other men is ultimately a confrontation with the
self--and completely revitalizes, renews, and enriches it. McBee
grapples with enormous issues such as masculinity, identity,
transformation, and loss with great depth and intelligence, and in
doing so, explores so many of the tough questions we should all be
asking ourselves. Though slim and sharply concise, Amateur enlarges
the world by opening up greater, more hopeful realms of
possibility. I am a better man for having read this book."
--Isaac Fitzgerald, founding editor of Buzzfeed Books, cohost of
#AMtoDM and coauthor of Pen & Ink and Knives & Ink "Thomas Page
McBee is a fighter--and not only in a ring in Madison Square
Garden. Amateur shows us a warrior of the human spirit,
courageously investigating masculinity itself. His prose--both
fierce and delicate--reveals a struggle to become a better man, and
to create a better self. Amateur is urgent, generous, and
fearless."
--Jennifer Finney Boylan, author of Long Black Veil and She's Not
There "With Thomas as your gloved guide, you'll peer into locker
rooms, through ropes, and at douchebags challenging strangers to
sidewalk beat downs. Watch Thomas spar with masculinity as he takes
on his, yours, and America's manhood. While tracing his journey
from uninitiated fighter to Madison Square boxer, McBee explores
why men so frequently confuse violence with power and why being a
man ought to rely on a willingness to spar, first and foremost,
with one's own shadow."
--Myriam Gurba, author of Mean "A blazingly wise and beautiful
book."
--A.L. Kennedy, author of All the Rage and Serious Sweet
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