Jennifer Finney Boylan shares her well-informed observations on the differences between men and women in her newest memoir Cleavage. Boylan, who has written about her transition to becoming a woman for over 20 years, moves effortlessly between humor and tragedy as she relates familiar and new stories with nuanced insight into aging, relationships, and transformations of all kinds.

This is my first time reading Jennifer Boylan’s solo writing. I had previously read Mad Honey co-authored by Jodi Picoult and Boylan.
Her style is non-linear and incredibly thought-provoking. She takes you on a journey through her boyhood experiences through her life as an older married trans woman with a family.
This is not a typical memoir nor has Boylan lived a typical life. There is a depth to Boylan’s writing that makes me want to seek out her other work.
I strongly recommend Cleavage to anyone wanting to examine and learn more about gender identity.

I started this book not knowing anything about Boylan. I read the book she co-authored with Jodi Piccoult and loved it so I decided to give this book a try. I find Boylan has a unique way of relaying her stories, weaving together past and present events so it makes for an interesting timeline. I loved how Boylan describes her relationship with her wife as well as her friends and family. I did not give this 5 stars because there is a huge chunk of this book that takes a lot of the personal aspects that I love in a memoir out. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A well written semi-memoir that explores gender and how we relate to ourselves. Boylan’s earlier work, She’s Not There, detailed her experience as a trans woman. This book details her growth as a trans woman, how it reshaped her relationships, and an honest look at how gender impacts our lives. Boylan brings intelligence, wit, and warmth to these topics. I would highly recommend for anyone looking to understand one person’s gender experience and their hope for the future.

I really enjoyed reading this book, thank you NetGalley & Celadon for the arc.

This memoir is a reflection into Boylan’s journey as an older trans woman, as well as her reflection into her life growing up while presenting as a boy. She originally came out as trans in 2000, and this book is her updated thoughts on her past, her transition and experience and the world since then and since her first book, “she’s not there”.

Her writing style is beautiful and brings you on her life’s journey with her. She gives you her thoughts and commentary along with the details of what she has lived through. Her experiences are framed with honesty and her own insights now looking back.

She also speaks on her own privilege, and gives credit to those who came before her who paved a path for her to live her life openly as a trans woman. She also speaks on the societal differences for men and women and how she was able to see that difference so dramatically post-transition.

The book is also not written chronologically and leaves time for the reader to pause and ponder about certain topics as well as her experiences. I really enjoyed this about the book, it left me thinking about certain topics even as I closed the book and went on with other things.

I loved this book. Very informative and insightful. It got me thinking and started conversations with friends.

I tried my best, but this is going to be a DNF for me. I think i need to go back and read her first novel, which can lend some prescriptive to the overall situation and then try and read this one again. i did not realize this was the second in the series. Gender identity is a very important topic, something with which I want to immerse myself and learn more about, but I need to start from the beginning in this particular instance.

Thank you NetGalley for this e-copy.

Musings of a time that has past- glimpses into Jennifer’s memories that feel fragmented, like broken glass, but when put together complete this beautiful portrait of her. I loved all the personal stories written into this book- and I loved all the side thoughts and experiences and emotions. The back and forth between her male life and her female life creates tiny threads the sew together the past and the present. And it is beautiful. To experience both lives is a privilege, but also painful. What it is to live your truth, but also sacrifice some of the freedom that came with the male life.

“Willingly diminishing yourself in order to fit some feminine ideal is a different matter, especially when that ideal has at its core the erasure of women and the foregrounding of me .”

I thought this would be more general social commentary but it's really a memoir - this seems to keep happening with my nonfiction picks lately, but I usually end up liking them anyway. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Jennifer came out as trans in 2000 and published She's Not There in 2003 about her coming out and transition. Cleavage gives us an updated look at her life and family 20 years later and reflections on her experiences from her current perspective.

I haven't read Jennifer's first memoir so it's not a prerequisite but I think it would be really interesting to read that first for more context and to compare. When my book club read Pageboy we had discussed how we would love to read an update from Elliot a few years post-transition. I'm really happy to have this memoir and read insights from a trans person who has been out for 2 decades - here's hoping for many more such stories published in the future!

I found that I had no real connection to the author, so I really struggled with this book. She also sporadically jumps between multiple stories/memories within each chapter and it was difficult to follow. Overall, it felt Jennifer Finney Boylan's stream of consciousness which wasn't exactly what I wanted out of this memoir. I wish it flowed better and had more of an overall impact/tone.

I really enjoy Jennifer Finney Boylan's writing. This latest installment is no exception, although the heavier tone this time around - which she indirectly acknowledges is a shift in her own perspective's due to aging and the changing political landscape - did make this a different reading experience.

Her subject matter is always heavy and thoughtful, but she has a marvelous facility with language and inability to draw anecdote and experience and philosophy and perspective together into a coherent whole that is definitely more than the sum of its parts. I did not mind the change in tone, and it did not affect my perception of the book as a whole, but I did feel like this one was a little more all over the place than her previous books. Again, not a problem for me, but it did make for a reading experience that was different than I expected based on her previous books. We are all getting older though, that is for certain, and I found her perspectives thought-provoking as always!

That being said, if you are not already familiar with her work and her life story, you might want to start with an earlier book and work your way to here so you can truly appreciate the perspective shifts she describes. They are thoughtful and reflective and difficult at times, but presented with a sincerity and straightforwardness that I always find refreshing and oh so rare in this modern era....

I was under the impression that I was getting a history book about cleavage in our society. Instead, I read a heartfelt and funny book about identity, change and what it means to connect with others. Boylan shares her personal experiences with transformation and relationships in a way that feels relatable. She is a master of balancing the laugh-out-loud moments with deeper reflections, making you think about how we see ourselves and others.

<b>DNF at 54% - No Rating</b>

So this was not what I thought it was going to be. I was drawn in by the cover, which depicts one of the most iconic (and one of my all time personal favorite) old Hollywood photos ever, and the tag line. I guess I thought this book was going to be a discourse on sexuality against an old Hollywood backdrop versus now? I don't know. I obvious should have read the Netgalley description more thoroughly before requesting it.

Completely my mistake. When I realized that this was a memoir, I tried to shift gears mentally, but it just wasn't working out for me. I just didn't care for Boylan's writing style. It was very nonlinear and kind of all over the place.

In short, nothing against the author and/or the topic. This just wasn't what I thought it was going to be and I didn't care for the writing.

My first introduction to Jennifer Finney Boylan was when I saw her on television, showing a dog in a dog show. Other than that, at that time, I knew very little about her life, her personal life, anyway.

As an advocate for transgender people, she shares some of the issues she has encountered, as well as the stories of others, sharing her personal experiences of her transition and how her family reacted to the changes in her life that followed.

This covers a lot of changes, not only for herself, but for her family as the years pass. It also explores those who view those who choose these people as stereotypes, as well as the effect it has on how they deal with the transition physically, emotionally, and psychologically, as well as how it affects those in their lives who find it difficult to understand.


Pub Date: 04 Feb 2025

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Celadon Books

This isn't quite a book, yet. It's a lot of essays by Boylan reworked into kind of a book shape, but it needs more work to become a book. it's unfortunately really disjointed because of the origins of many of the chapters, and there's a good bit of repeated material, as well as stories that are begun and never resolved. Maybe that's deliberate. I don't know. What I do know is that while Boylan is always fine to read and while this is enjoyable enough, it doesn't feel particularly meaningful or deep. It's still half-baked, as well as not fully arranged. It feels like she's resting on her laurels. I'm not going to say don't read it, because there is some good writing, and good insight in it, but get it from the library.

I thought this was a good blend of memoir and history. This was the first book I've read by Jenny Boylan and I will definitely be looking at Mad Honey and She's Not There. I think I should have read She's Not There first, but it was still an interesting read. It was a good blend of the history of the sexualization of women's bodies and how it all relates to Jenny Boylan's life before, during, and after her transition. It would definitely make for good discussion for a book club because of that.

I saw this book trending on Goodreads and decided to give it a shot. This is a great overview of how women became objectified and sexualized throughout the eras. It also touches on the trends of body shapes. The history was a little boring and could have been summed up in a better way.

First of all, I love that the author chose an iconic photo for the cover of this book, that is so appropriate! Jennifer Finney Boylan, is a prominent transgender advocate and author. In this semi-autobiographical work, she blends memoir, social commentary, and cultural critique in this deeply personal reflection on her own experiences transitioning while also examining the broader societal constructs of gender.

At the heart of Cleavage is Boylan's exploration of the shifting dynamics between her male and female selves, as well as the ways in which gender roles are constructed, maintained, and challenged. The title of the book itself is a clever metaphor, alluding to the literal and figurative spaces between the sexes, as well as to the often provocative and loaded perceptions of women’s bodies. Through her transition, Boylan navigates the literal cleavage between her past as a man and her present as a woman, while also addressing the figurative cleavages that exist in society’s understanding of what it means to be "male" or "female." Her experiences as a transgender woman are framed with both honesty and insight, making the book accessible not just to those who share similar experiences, but to anyone looking to understand the complexities of gender beyond binary stereotypes. She tackles topics ranging from the physical transformations involved in transitioning, to the emotional and psychological impacts of living as a transgender person, to the sometimes difficult but crucial conversations about gender that need to take place in society.

Rather than viewing gender as an immutable, fixed concept, she sees it as a spectrum—one that encompasses a range of experiences and expressions. She is quick to acknowledge that there is no singular "transgender experience" and points out the vast diversity of individuals who identify with different gender identities. This perspective allows Boylan to critique the often rigid and reductive categories that society imposes on people, while also emphasizing the humanity and individuality of those who live outside the mainstream definitions of "man" and "woman."

Boylan also uses her platform to explore broader themes such as power, privilege, and the cultural expectations placed on men and women. She critically examines how societal gender norms shape our understanding of relationships, work, and even basic human interactions.
While Cleavage is in many ways a deeply personal story, it is also an important cultural commentary on the way gender shapes society. Boylan’s ability to balance personal narrative with critical insight makes the book both engaging and enlightening. It’s not just for those interested in gender identity, but for anyone curious about the complex ways gender impacts our lives, from our relationships to our careers, and our broader understanding of human nature.

In conclusion, Cleavage is a thoughtful, beautifully written book that challenges conventional thinking about gender while offering an intimate portrait of one woman’s journey toward self-realization. The authors' sharp wit, emotional depth, and intellectual rigor make this a compelling read for anyone interested in exploring the intersections of gender, identity, and society. It’s a book that invites readers to rethink not only what it means to be a man or a woman, but what it means to be human! Would make a great discussion at your next book club.

After reading “She’s Not There” a few years back, it was nice to once again catch up with Boylan and see how her life has progressed. She is a talented writer who also offers good insight on the differences between men and women from someone who has been both. Thank you for the ARC.

This was such a interesting story. I had no idea what I was signing up for when I requested it but loved it. I loved all the backstory behind the author's transition and the ending was perfect. This is such a hot topic for many people with so many different opinions but I thought the story was well-written and I hope it inspires more individuals to tell their stories. Thank you so much for the ARC, I appreciate it!