Rating: 
Summary: Interesting read
Review: What a great change of pace this book was. I thought this book was geat because it offered the different perspectives of the people involved in the life of man going through a sex change. I also thought it was interesting that the events took place in a small town in Vermont, to show how others outside the group of main characters deal with this man.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting story with room for lots of thought
Review: I might want to give the book 3.5 stars. It was a good and fast read. I read the book in one day, and the structure of the novel is such that it's a very compelling story. Having 4 characters tell their own story in the first person makes it very intimate, and I liked that. Bohjalian wrote it well for that.With that said, I'm not sure all the characters were as fleshed out as they could have been. I know the story of Dana, the one going through the sex change, was told, but I had some problem accepting his desire to be a woman. It wasn't sold to me very strongly. I liked Allison's story, and her dilemna. She was a very interesting character, and her conflict about whether she could become a lesbian was fascinating. Also, I really felt for her and how the venomous reaction of the small town affected her. The story brings up lots of questions about the nature of love and gender identity in love. Does gender matter in who we fall in love with? I, despite being heterosexual, never thought so. I always accepted the philosophy that we do not choose who we fall in love with, and if it happened to be someone of the same sex, so be it. However, this novel forced me to think about that in a more critical manner. Also, everyone is different, and our reactions and feelings to situations will be unique. That is also brought up in the novel. I read this because it was a selection of my book club. I look forward to a stimulating discussion about it. I do recommend the book for those who are intrigued about the topic, want a good read, and like to discuss these ethereal issues.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Although a timely and interesting subject - I found the writing to be poor and the characters one dimensional. This is not a book I would recommend. There were several interesting passages which accounts for the 2 stars but mainly Bohjalian harps on the same points over and over without adding anything new or thought provoking.
Rating: 
Summary: Bohjalian keeps pushing the envelope
Review: What a tour de force. Bohjalian refuses to be typecast, and for a straight guy he writes very well from the woman's point of view. And of course he writes well from the man's point of view. Well, now he's challenged the swampy middle ground: writing from the point of view of a transgendered man-to-woman.
The plot line is subtle, and the story is told from many different vantage points: Dana (the transgender character), his girlfriend, the girlfriend's ex-husband, and the girlfriend's college-aged daughter. All eventually come across as complex and sympathetic, and, for a small Vermont town, amazingly accepting. The 'bad guys' are the parents of the school children who are students of Dana's girlfriend and want her ousted for dating him/her.
The only part that I found difficult (and I'm a medical professional) was the ultra-graphic description of the surgery itself. I found myself sort of looking at the printed page out of the corner of my visual field, not sure I wanted to continue reading. If I, a woman, had some trouble with it, I can't imagine how a man would feel reading it - - - and how the heck did Bohjalian ever manage to write it without some major tranquilizers?
There's a lovely twist at the end of this book, which against all odds, has a happy ending.
Rating:
Summary: You will cry - alot
Review: CB is one of my favorite authors. I had the pleasure of meeting him in Vermot during a reading from Buffalo Soldiers (which I did not like). Fortunaely during that reading he also did a passage from this book which was downright hilarious. I found this to be one of the most romanic stories ever- it deals with the very fine line between what do you want for yourself and what are you willing to give up for a relationship with someone you love.
Rating:
Summary: Very interesting
Review: This book was unlike any I've read before. I didn't know very much about the subject and it was eye-opening to hear about (I listened to the audio version). I read this book because I had previously enjoyed Midwives by the same author. At the time the book kind of bothered me but I wasn't sure why. I now realize it was Allie's decision to stay with Dana after the transformation. While reading I thought she was just doing it to spite her ex-husband and prove her loyalty as a girlfriend, not because she really wanted to with her whole heart. Allie knew she wasn't a lesbian, although she tried. I now think that Allie stayed with Dana because she loved him for who he was, regardless of his outside appearance, and wanted their relationship to continue as it was, though it couldn't.
Rating:
Summary: Trans-Sister Radio
Review: The writing was excellent! The author really gives alot of insight into the world of tramssexuals. Makes the reader very empathetic to the storyline. Definitley a worthy read.
Rating:
Summary: highly readable & well-researched
Review: Trans-Sister Radio is the first book I've read of its kind. It is the story of Allie Banks, Vermont schoolteacher, and her lover Dana Stevens. Dana as it turns out, is a male-to-female transsexual and this causes many issues for Allie internally and for her career. The story is told from many perspectives - Allie, her daughter, Dana, and Allie's ex-husband Will. Each chapter is interspersed with the text of an NPR piece. It is so realistic that I sometimes forgot this was fiction. The author did a great deal of research, obviously, and I felt he was very sensitive to the subject. Although I couldn't sympathise with all of the character's feelings, both Carla & Allie had thoughts & feelings exactly like my own at times. Of course, it was unfortunate that Allie was unable to deal with the physical reality of her lover's new body, but it shows that you can't change who you are inside. Dana couldn't continue to live as a man any more than Allie could magically transform into a lesbian. I would like to say this would be a great book to teach people about being transgendered or loving a transgendered person. However, the surgery section - while realistic - might be a little much for some people. It is the one chapter that will prevent me from giving this to my mother. At times, the book felt a bit preachy, like a tutorial on transsexuals. However, most of this information will be new to your average reader, and it's important to educate as well as entertain. It is a far better introduction to the topic than one might get on daytime television.
Rating:
Summary: Gender lines blurred
Review: Only a writer such as Chris Bohjalian could pull this off, and then barely. Not only is the character a transgender M2F, but a lesbian as well. Not only is she in love, she is in love with heterosexual whom she met and courted as a man. Going from one to another as narrators makes the tale more readable and believable. Chris is an expert at getting inside his characters. I felt I understood more about the subject of transgenders after reading this book. However, I still don't feel the characters would have interacted in this way. I really didn't buy the ending either. But this book is worth a read, especially if you want to know about a subject BEFORE making judgments.
Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing, and yet so completely twisted...
Review: I read this book as I LOVED Bohjalian's novels I had read previously, Law of Similars and Midwives. This, however, did not live up to my expectations as a story. True, the characters are well-developed and the personal conflicts are also described well. It's a love story that will indeed make you look differently at what and how you love. However, for people reading for the story as opposed to the writing... the ending was so twisted and implausible I actually yelled out loud at the book.
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