Rating: 
Summary: SUCH COURAGE
Review: I found this book so very interesting and I am amazed at the honesty of the family in telling the story. The author and the family presented a picture of courage and the will to be who they were meant to be against all odds.
Rating:
Summary: The telling of this sad tale could have been a mess....
Review: In the hands of a less skilled writer the telling of this sad tale could have been a mess... but luckily for us all Mr. Colapinto is a talented writer and scrupulous researcher who reports on the "John/Joan" story with remarkable clarity and compassion. I am grateful to the entire Reimer family for going public with their personal tragedy in the hopes of preventing such medical incompetence and inhumanity in the future. It is absolutely outrageous that even today there appears to be no unanimous condemnation among health care professionals against the tawdry and irresponsible practices and flawed scholarship of Dr. John Money. There are heroes in this story, even within the medical establishment... read the book to find out about those precious few who dared to demonstrate the courage of their convictions.
Rating:
Summary: A compelling story
Review: The horror that David was put through could have been prevented if the barbaric and medically unnecessary practice of routine circumcision was banned once and for all. John Colapinto's story is well written and should be a lesson to any parent considering circumcision of their infant boy. Problems such as David's may be rare on the grand scale of things, but they are not rare for the individuals that have to live through them. Mr. Colapinto's telling of David's story brought tears to my eyes. It's high time we ended routine circumcision and let all boys be "As Nature Made Him".
Rating:
Summary: Utterly absorbing
Review: This is an astounding book. I have a bachelor's in psych and a master's in child development, and I would highly recommend this book for anyone in either field. More importantly, I believe this book is captivating enough to appeal to anyone with any type of interest in human nature. The beginning of the book is a bit technical, but overall the book is very readable. You won't regret the money spent to buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Simply amazing
Review: I saw part of the show where David was interviewed by Oprah and I knew I had to read the book. The book was very well researched and thus provided the reader with enough background to understand this very delicate topic. What makes me angry is this "Dr." is still considered one of the best. Don't other doctors realize that this man LIED when he published the particulars of this case? I honestly cried because of everything he put Brenda/David through. NOBODY deserves to have that kind of traumatic childhood. It makes me wonder how "Baby Doe" has been leading her life since she was also treated by Money. This story should serve as an inspiration to everyone. I am glad that David is finally living a normal life along with his wife and children. It makes me happy that he is intelligent enough to understand that his parents were doing what they thought was best for him at the time. This book is a MUST READ! John Colapinto did an excellent job!
Rating:
Summary: It's a page turner
Review: The author did a fine job of rendering a complex and difficult subject understandable. The book traces recent history of science's understanding of sex roles, who we are and how we got to be that way, through the very personal story of David. The reader is moved to cheering David and his family for their resilience against all odds! At the same time, we are cautioned against leaving behind our own common sense when it conflicts with "the best medical minds". The famous John/Joan case was one I followed as I came of age during the development of feminist thought. I felt personally betrayed by Dr. Money's duplicitous grandstanding as I learned the truth behind the case. But then much of the truth of sex role stereotyping came through from my own life, and the lives of my own children....
Rating:
Summary: Jaw Dropping Stunner!
Review: John Colapinto has written a remarkable work, giving insight to a story that should be science fiction, but is not. Nobody listened to David/Brenda during the first 14 years of his life when he made clear he was unhappy with his "reassignment" to a girl. His parents, especially his mother, tried earnestly to make this experiment work. Blind to reality, the parents chose to ignore all signs that their son was not turning into a girl. When David is finally able to assert himself and live as he was born to live, he begins to flourish. It is amazing that external genitalia, or the lack of, has lead to boys becoming girls or vice versa. That one man, Dr. Money, was able to make a name for himself at Johns Hopkins based on this one very failed experiment with Brenda/David, is astounding. Where were his peers? It seems everyone was so awed by Dr. Money's huge ego and personality that nobody in the medical profession, was willing to question results, which were very different that those results published in Dr. Money's many books and publications. That David is able to forgive his parents for the ruse of his first 14 years is incredible. His parents tried their best, yet they made terrible mistakes. This book is highly charged. While Mr. Colapinto generally sticks to the facts, the emotional underpinnings of this story are devastating and one will be hard pressed not to feel for this little boy. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling
Review: The story of the Reimers and their experiences with the medical community was a fascinating read. While a very personal story, it was also universal. The book was very well written and a joy to read.
Rating: 
Summary: A gripping, compelling, emotional story
Review: I read this book in its entirety in one night, something I have rarely done before. I felt compelled to turn the next page, to find out the outer boundaries of the horror that Brenda/David suffered -- just how much worse could it get? Before one finds out, though, one must work through the first third of the book, which consists of a discussion of the psychology and science behind the decision to reassign gender. This part of the book was fascinating, but I found that its length and depth was not entirely necessary for an understanding of David's situation, and was anxious to get to the rest of the story. The author did make a successful effort to present the science and controversy over Brenda/David's doctor's (Dr. Money) widely-accepted and also less conventional views in an objective manner, and I appreciate this. The second part of the book focuses on the specifics of Brenda's condition and her life until her decision to revert to her original gender and become David. This is the most gripping part of the book. The author's sensitive treatment of the travails that Brenda suffered made me feel as if I was traveling along with her on her collision course with her true gender identity. The author avoids sentimentality, but treats the subject sensitively. He does not rail unduly against the doctors who changed the course of Brenda's life, but instead acts as a detached narrator laying before the reader the facts. The third part of the book is a look at the issue of the transformation and reassignment of intersexed children in general, and a view of the advocacy now being taken up on their behalf. Mostly silenced by shame and fear, former intersexed children have begun to join forces and argue for a change in the medical protocols established primarily by Brenda/David's doctors at Johns Hopkins, especially Dr. Money, and widely adopted by the medical establishment, which call for surgical sexual reassignment of intersexed children. This part of the book gives the author the forum to voice what is probably his own view towards these practices, without unduly intruding as an outsider and journalist. Instead, he prefers to speak through the voices of the victims of such practices and implies his skepticism gently and unobtrusively. It is obvious that the author did a thorough and excellent job in reasearching his topic. He does not hammer the reader with sermons or preaching, but rather relies on as much fact-based logic and the irrefutable emotional damage that David suffered at the hands of his tormenters. I respect this author's work, and above all appreciate the strength and character of David. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: And there are thousands in a similar situation
Review: I am glad that this story is told finally and in such a compelling manner. Easy to read it tells the story of the Joan/John case, which has been used for years to justify a *nurture* instead of *nature* ideology that affected and still afects thousands of children born each year: those with ambioious genitals, where doctors decide the "true" gender. Often this decision leads to similar suffering as decribed in this book for that child. Most people labeled as transsexual also expierience similar frustration and pain in their childhood, but without the sympathetic media coverage later. If you want to know how transsexuals feel or what happens to intersexed and *reasigned* children read this book. It might open your eyes.
| 
