This was a great essay collection from Ms. Walker that gives us a whole range of writing, from criticism to fanfic-esque the way you wish things had gone to memoir to straight up investigative journalism, looking at what we're supposed to want in the world veruss what we actually have to deal with, especially for trans women. Great voice, and absolutely worth picking up this summer.

Harron is legit a genius writer and I loved reading this book of essays about her life and perspective on everything from art to film to the state of digital media. The trans experience in America is growing more difficult by the day but listening to voices of these authors is needed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A big thank you to Harron Walker, Random House, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read Aggregated Discontent in digital format. I will share my review to Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes & Noble upon release.

This collection of essays explores a variety of themes and ideas, but most of them confront the expectations, boundaries, and violence that come with womanhood. In her life, the ways that these things have shown up are examined with humor and frustration. Harron's voice is vulnerable and honest, but at times, exhausted. I couldn't help but feel echoes of Fleabag - the ways that feminism puts its own pressures on us to behave a certain way or be aware of certain information. It feels difficult to complain, because someone has it worse, or had it worse, or hell, could have it worse. But all in all, this is the life we're experiencing, and we have a right to have a painter's pallet of emotions about it, damnit! Harron's thoughts will make you blow air out of your nose probably a lot. You'll go "You know, that's so true," until your head falls off. I definitely learned a lot about trans womanhood and the ways that those two things are both woven together and artificially pushed apart. Harron has a lot to say, and I loved reading.

Major Tropes & Themes:

- womanhood/feminism/gender
- humorous observations
- trans women
- healthcare & reproductive freedom
- capitalism & patriarchy
- fertility
- girlboss

4/5 stars!

This was a wonderful and important book of essays that I’d liken to Trick Mirror and Everything I Know About Love. We get part memoir, part reflection from a trans woman on pop culture, art, transparenthood, HRT, white feminism, and so much more. You can tell this is written by someone with a background in journalism because it’s both attention grabbing and well-researched. I loved learning about her life and experiences, and getting interesting history and background on topics like HRT used by cisgendered people. Highly recommend this one if you want something funny, at time dark, direct, and captivating.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC!

I enjoyed learning and understanding Harron's experience as a trans woman and all that she has had to navigate as it related to workplace discrimination, dating and fertility, and the nuanced ways trans people move through the world.

This book also introduced me to the voices of trans people that I am excited to learn more about.

The description of the book as memoir, criticism, and investigative journalism hooked me, but it didn't deliver. The writing is good, yet not that memorable. I had a few laugh out loud moments. I also appreciated being introduced to Greer Lankton, although it made me question the entire book because I don't think the writing did the artist justice.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this title.

As with most essay collections, there's always one that doesn't quite work for me, but the rest here did, and I really like Harron Walker's voice as a writer. The piece that manages to merge The Devil Wears Prada with The Intern and What It All Means is particularly brilliant.

Big thanks to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for sending me an advanced copy of Harron Walker’s collection of essays and articles titled Aggregated Discontent: Confessions of the Last Normal Woman. This book was not on my radar, but I am so glad I received a digital copy. This was a thoughtful and intriguing collection of essays and articles, showcasing Walker’s range as a writer and culture critic. I was not familiar with Harron Walker’s writing but will keep my eye out for her articles since I found these articles both humorous and enlightening. I laughed and learned throughout this book, while also appreciating Walker’s candor and willingness to share about her experiences as a trans woman since hers is not an experience that I am familiar with. When I started this book, I thought that maybe Walker was one of the first trans woman writers, but throughout her book, she frequently cites other authors, auteurs, activists, and artists who also happen to be trans. Reading Walker’s essays, for me, was like opening up a curtain to a new range of experiences for a group that it seems is increasingly marginalized and stigmatized. Walker makes note of this, but also challenges those perceptions throughout her essays. I thoroughly appreciated how her work humanizes a group that was mislabeled as a threat to children during the last presidential election. Although I no longer live in PA, I’m close enough to Philly to catch many of the radio stations, and I was shocked to hear that the current PA senator’s pitch to be elected was fear mongering about the (non) threat of trans athletes, promising to protect female athletes in PA. One of the last essays in the collection highlights the increasing number of legislation against people who identify as trans, and as Walker explains, often pushes them to seek out treatments, medication, and other care in the black market, which not only puts a vulnerable group like the Trans community at further risk, but it also possibly creates further health risks. While Walker documents the more recent legislation, Cynthia Carr’s amazing biography of Candy Darling (Candy Darling: Dreamer, Icon, Superstar) noted how her cancer was most likely a result of malpractice with doctors giving her bad hormone pills.
I really enjoyed all of these articles, but I felt like Walker is at her best when she is surveying the work of an artist or critiquing an aspect of society. “Pick Me”, the second essay, is an interesting critique of the kind of the performative activism seen on social media and more recently by major corporations. She starts the article by recounting her own experience working in a store, appreciating the people she encounters, when she is notified of a new campaign to elevate the voices of Trans employees at a popular store. This prompts her to visit the stores, wondering how many Trans workers they actually employ in several of their Manhattan locations. Furthermore, Walker documents the various statistics and Trans testimonials that are displayed on LED screens in the storefront window. I usually don’t think much about these kinds of events, but Walker’s thoughtfulness to dig deeper and be skeptical of this campaign speaks through her experiences and challenges with finding and maintaining work as a Trans woman. Many of the articles focus on Walker’s experiences with work, an area that often is a challenge for people who identify as Trans. Walker finds that despite the campaign, there are no Trans workers in any of the 6 stores, although many of the clerks mention that there may be some corporate employees who identify as Trans. Her questioning and critique emphasizes that while it is good to raise awareness of the challenges that Trans people face, they still face barriers to areas like employment, housing, and appropriate medical care, and this company seemed to not contribute to making things better. It was also interesting to consider how the media often reports on Trans issues, framing it almost always as dire and at-risk. While there disheartening statistics about the disparity that many Trans people experience, Harron also challenges this notion by presenting other stories highlighting Trans couples preparing for children and how supportive and “mothering” the Trans community is.
“Discontent”, the next essay, is a harrowing portrait of Walker’s work in media, and the challenges she faces navigating a problematic boss who wasn’t even sure what she wanted. While my work experiences have been mostly positive, I’ve definitely had some challenging bosses to work for; however, Harron’s job was providing her with health care that would ultimately pay for her transition, so her experience navigating the kind of harassment and disparity in treatment and expectations were downplayed to a certain extent to pursue her healthcare. This article demonstrated the kind of work challenges that Trans people face, as well as the difficulties in obtaining the health care that they need, and the kinds of mistreatment they might endure to obtain that kind of care. One of my favorite essays was “What’s New and Different?”, which is a fabulous sequel to The Devil Wears Prada that somehow synthesizes another Anne Hathaway film The Intern. It is a brilliant and hilarious creative juxtaposition that manages to also critique the cruelty of the “Girlboss” and how that kind of punishment of working women is almost like a generational trauma, passed down from woman to woman. Walker goes on to critique other 80s films that are predecessors of The Devil Wears Prada—notably Working Girls and Working Girl (the more popular film). Throughout these films, Walker highlights the ways that the woman bosses take advantage of and mistreat their workers, wondering if this kind of treatment (or mistreatment) in popular media stems from marginalized identities, and not just gender. It’s an interesting point to consider, and I loved how Walker investigates this through film, but also creates this speculative sequel to popular films. It was also interesting to read about Working Girl, the Lizzie Borden film that preceded Mike Nicols’ Working Girls. I’ve read about Born in Flames before, and I’m pretty sure I’ve also read something about Working Girls, but I’ve never seen this film. Walker’s description and analysis of the film does make me want to track it down.
“Monkey’s Paw Girl Edition” presents a unique dilemma for Trans women, and again, it was not something I would have ever considered, but Walker presents her concern about walking down the street, being aware of her appearance, and encountering a group of men, hoping that they display misogyny rather identifying her Transness. This leads into the second part about what being treated like a woman really means, and experience the mistreatment, misogyny and harassment they experience.
My favorite piece was “She Wants, She Takes, She Pretends” which was about the artist Greer Lankton, who I am so glad that I found through Walker’s article. Taking a break during my reading of this piece, I looked up Lankton’s amazing doll work and other sculptures, and was transfixed—or maybe just enthralled with the haunting quality of her work. Walker provides both a biography and an overview of Lankton’s themes and interests in her work, highlighting some of the ideas. It was incredibly interesting to learn how Lankton transitioned, and how her parents played a role in supporting her, although Walker also notes that there might be some ambiguity or uncertainty about the role her parents played. Regardless, Lankton was able to transition with her father’s insurance. It seemed like her parents recognized that Lankton was different from other boys, and as a result, was possibly lonely. She began creating dolls, possibly as a way to keep her company, but also as a reflection of herself. One of the other interesting parts about this article was Walker noting Lankton had many photobooth pictures of her transitioning, which it sounded like was something Walker also did to document her own transition. Maybe the dolls were also a way for her to further alter her image or to further present the possibilities of her identity and presenting herself to the world. Regardless, I was fascinated with her work and couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard of her before.
Another favorite was “A Trans Panic, So to Speak,” which examined Ed Wood’s Glen or Glenda, described as possibly “an unexpectedly earnest plea for acceptance”, but it also seems to castigate transsexuals with the Alan/Ann subplot. As Walker explains, both stories have paths to acceptance, where Glen is social, Ann’s is medical, with hormones and surgery. I didn’t realize that there were these attempts to draw “some distance between themselves and other sexual deviants. Rather than trying to find common ground with all the homosexuals, transsexuals, and drag queens…” This article not only takes a unique approach to analyzing a classic Z movie, but also finds a way to examine how these attempts at representation and normalizing ended up further stigmatizing marginalized groups like the Trans community. Walker also brings in her own experience with her date, and questioning his own gender identity, possibly due to his “ethical non-monogamy”, which I wasn’t even aware was a thing. Again, I felt like I learned so much from this book. The last few articles, “Sterility”, “Fertility”, and In/fertility” all dealt with further barriers and complications Trans men and women face, but Walker also ties in her own experiences as well as those of friends and prominent Trans activists and artists. These were also some excellent chapters that all touched on topics related to family, relationships, and health. There were great points to consider, especially about the idea of family and what it means to people who identify as Trans. Walker explains how the Trans community has becoming mothering, and how many older Trans members end up taking on roles where they mother the younger generation who may have been turned out by family and face barriers to housing and jobs. Walker not only examines this supportive community, but is also turning her critical eye back to these barriers and access to care and basic necessities of survival, and how members of the Trans community are often more at risk due to their marginalized status in society. We see this even more within the past few months of the new/old administration that continues its assault on non-normative groups. If anything, Walker’s book is coming out at the perfect time to confront the disinformation and biases. Although I’m not sure whether anyone in the White House reads at all, I can see these essays being valuable in the kinds of anthologies used in first year writing courses. Walker’s perspective brings an important but often under-represented eye to important issues that most young people will experience either in college or after graduation. Plus, her work is funny and humanizing; that is, it shows us how Trans people live, laugh, and love, while also raising awareness about the barriers and issues with accessibility they often face. I really hope that instructors and curriculum developers consider incorporating any of these essays into their courses. Highly recommended collection!

I love love love essay collections! So this review may be bias from the get-go. I also love when pop culture is intertwined in the essays, so this winning combo had me sold from the beginning. Walker's exploration was both informative and interesting, providing a perspective I could never have considered from my social identity. I would recommend this for anyone looking to gain a new understanding from a different view.

Oooooh, narrative nonfic essays? Count me innnn.

I wasn't disappointed by this one! Not necessarily wowed either, but not mad about it! As (almost) always, essay collections are hit or miss. Some of the disconnect was totally my fault though, the pop culture references went over my heard.

The tone of Harron's collection is so chill, I loved it. It almost read as podcast episodes to me? But in a good way.

Thank you bunches to PRH, Harron Walker and NetGalley for the DRC in exchange for my honest review!

Aggregated Discontent by Harron Walker is a collection of short stories written in essays about Walker’s experiences as an out trans woman.
Walker's explorations of sex, gender, art, love and life is both informative and interesting.

When someone's book of essays comes out, I feel that it's very hit or miss. Some keep your attention and leave you wanting a thesis on the subject while some feel like a slog that you skim through.

That's how I felt reading this book. There were lines that I wrote down because of how much I loved them. Certain essays, like some of the ones on trans parenthood, left me considering things I hadn't given much thought to before. The 'Devil Wears Prada' fan fiction chapter was like reading a freshman 101 essay trying to make connections but ultimately saying the same thing over and over.

I appreciated the voice used in the essays. It's clear that Harron Walker has plenty of experience writing to a crowd. Hearing about her taking a job which was antithetical to the reason she needed the job felt like talking to a friend in a cafe. It's such a human argument in a capitalist society.

Overall, I liked this book but I didn't LOVE it. I felt the essays were inconsistent and often made similar points over and over. I do have to thank Walker for introducing me to the work of Greer Lankton who I googled immediately. I would recommend this book to anyone curious about the opinions of the first trans woman to write a book and her takes on navigating life, love, and pop culture.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

My favorite type of nonfiction is nonfiction that blends personal anecdotes with larger commentary on society.

This is a collection of short stories mostly revolving around the author's life experiences as a trans person. Stories revolve around the author's transness, how they are perceived in the world (being seen, outed, misgendered, etc), the desire to report on trans issues, the complexities of relationships (romantic, sexual, work, internal). Mixed in is an interesting critique/review/fan-fiction of The Devil Wears Prada, as well as a loving biography(ish) of trans artist Greer Lankton.

These essays were insightful, interesting, and gritty. They aren't neatly resolved and don't shy away from harsher truths. They leave you with more questions than answers - intentionally so.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy for review.

Reading Aggregated Discontent felt like having a long, meandering conversation with a close friend over a few too many bottles of wine—in the best way possible. It’s fun, fast-paced, quirky, and unfiltered in all the right places. As someone who often struggles with nonfiction, I found the essay format incredibly helpful. Breaking the book into smaller, self-contained pieces kept my interest piqued and made it easy to dip in and out without feeling lost.

Walker is a gifted and witty writer. Her essays blend cultural criticism, personal reflection, and investigative journalism in a voice that’s both sharp and approachable. She tackles everything from labor and gender identity to the subtle violence of assimilation and the myths surrounding trans healthcare, all while maintaining a biting sense of humor.

The only part that didn’t quite land for me was the Devil Wears Prada meets The Intern fanfic-style essay. That section felt a bit too far off course, and I actually put the book down for a day afterward, unsure if I’d pick it back up. I’m really glad I did, though—the strength of the rest of the collection more than made up for it.

This book is not only insightful and entertaining but also an accessible entry point for readers who are newer to nonfiction exploring LGBTQ+ and especially trans experiences. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the early copy.

At a time when trans people are being continuously thrown under the bus and made the scapegoat for all the problems in American politics and society, it is important to listen to trans voices. That’s why I was so excited to dig into Harron Walker’s collection of essays.

The essays cover her transition, her thoughts on pinkwashing, fertility issues for cis and trans women, as well as film analysis, highlighting some icons of queer history and more. I appreciated how she considered how the intersection of race impacts her experience as a trans woman. I especially appreciated that Walker highlighted the experience of transitioning with financial insecurity and struggle access healthcare. My favorite essay was about her grandmother worked in a department store and she became a resource for cross-dressers.

I’ll admit that some of the essays run a bit long, but overall I thought it was a great collection.

I would definitely recommend adding it to your TBR.

Thank you to #netgalley and Random House for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I admire Walker for the honesty of these 16 essays. I found this a collection to be read one per day in part because they didn't speak to me the way I'm certain they will to others. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARc. Intriguing, thoughtful and thought provoking.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC! This book will be released in the US on May 20th, 2025.

Harron Walker’s Aggregated Discontent is a razor-sharp, vulnerable, and searingly honest collection of essays that peers into the contradictions of trans womanhood in a cisnormative world. With sardonic wit and emotional clarity, Walker navigates the minefields of passing, labor, spectacle, and survival with a voice that is both unflinching and deeply human.

Across these essays, Walker maps the impossible terrain of what it means to be seen—too much, not enough, only when convenient. She details the emotional calculus of transitioning while broke, the frustrations of rainbow capitalism that promise inclusion but deliver little material change, and the endless loop of wondering if visibility is worth the cost. Her writing oscillates between confessional tenderness and cultural critique, and her prose crackles with punchy rhythm, incisive metaphor, and tongue-in-cheek irony that made me both wince and laugh out loud.

I was especially struck by her reflections on working a job she hated just for the insurance coverage, and the aching uncertainty of early transition—when every new version of yourself is still unfurling. The essay on watching Monica with a cis audience was a standout: layered, sharp, and painfully resonant. Her class-conscious readings of The Devil Wears Prada and The Intern, however, didn’t land for me—perhaps because I’m not a huge fan of either film, and the essay dragged a bit. Similarly, while the piece on Greer Lankton is rich with insight, its length left me a little adrift.

Still, the throughline of the collection—the experience of trans womanhood, from searching for trans elders, to interrogating trans motherhood, and reckoning with social infertility—feels radical in its intimacy. Walker invites us into a degendered, more capacious vision of family, femininity, and care, one where survival doesn’t preclude joy, and where transness is not just a battleground, but a place of creativity and connection.

Aggregated Discontent isn’t neat or easy—and that’s its power. It offers no clean conclusions, only the messy, brilliant edges of a woman daring to be fully seen.

📖 Read this if you love: trans cultural critique, anti-capitalist essays, and writing that blends memoir with media analysis.

🔑 Key Themes: Trans Womanhood and Visibility, Rainbow Capitalism and Exploitation, Passing and Misogyny, Trans Motherhood and Social Infertility, Art and the Politics of Representation.

Content / Trigger Warnings: Sexual Harassment (minor), Transphobia (minor), Misogyny (minor), Eating Disorder (minor), War (minor).

This was a book that I could not get into. Stories were flat and were at times hard to follow. I wanted more from this book.

This was such an immersive reading experience that felt like listening to the smartest person you admire. I laughed, I learned, and I loved the whole journey.

I was very excited for this short story collection as it centers transgender stories. However, this just did not work for me. All of the stories were very flat and had a monotone voice. Because of this I was bored by most of the stories and DNFd by 35%. I did truly enjoy Walkers writing style but the stories just did not work for me.