Rating: 
Summary: A Heartwrenching Must-Read...
Review: It is with some trepidation that I try to sit down and write this review. It's one thing to say that this is likely one of the top five books I have read in my life so far, but it's another thing to try and qualify that thereafter. This book, however, has earned the attempt at least.A botched circumcision left two very slightly educated parents with an impossible decision: what to do? They'd brought their twin sons in for what they considered the most routine of operations, and now the doctor was reccommending removing the burned and destroyed penis and raising the boy as a girl. This is his story, in his words, and let me tell you, it was a story that moved me from sympathy, to empathy, to outright rage, and sheer incredulity. You cannot help but feel deeply when reading this book: anger at the selfish self-interest motivated doctor who tried to use this poor victimized child to prove his theories - at whatever the cost. Admiration on behalf of the child who had to grow up this way. Pain and Empathy for the parents, faced with the then contemporary impossibility of "disagreeing" with a doctor. That David came forth with this novel just stuns me, and I have nothing but admiration for a man who could survive all this. His story deserves to be read, and is one of the few people I can think of when I hear the phrase "contemporary hero." Not for mere survival (of which there is nothing mere), but in his handling of the situation, and his rising to the challenge, and, most importantly, his attitudes he has adopted since.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! Amazing story......
Review: I just finished reading this book a few days ago. I couldn't put the book down and wanted to finish it to the end. Bravo to David who was strong enough to see it through. It's just very sad how we can be too trusting of authority. We need to question the motives of people like Dr. Money. He was in it for the glory. He wasn't thinking of the children at all. Besides, what God makes us is what we should accept. We have no right to change what God has given us at birth. We are who we are.
Rating:
Summary: excellent!
Review: This book represents the best in non fiction reading. It is both educating and exciting to read. I really loved this book and truly had no real interest in the subject of sexual reassignment. However, I had seen the story on one of the tv news magazine shows and thought it might be interesting. I am shocked that a supposedly intelligent person, Dr. Money, would have ever suggested to the family that changing the gender of the boy who suffered a botched circumcision was the favorable solution. It's unthinkable that it took years for this story to come to light. I hope that David understands the selfless act he did in allowing this book to be written. The pain that EVERY member in this family must have endured is tragic. I can only hope that in future cases that doctors will allow the child to come of age to make the choice themself. David is a MAN to be admired.
Rating: 
Summary: A quick and interesting read
Review: This book can make you feel really angry about what this young child had to go through. Never feeling right about himself because he was being raised as a girl, but he never fit in because he was a boy throughout. My husband and I both read it because we are both very interested in psychology and how the way we are raised effects our lives. It will make those of us raised in a normal enviornment with average lives appreciate that we did not have to deal with such a problem, both as a parent or a child.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing
Review: This is an interesting read for anyone interested in the nature of sexuality. One is always disturbed by tales of medical practices that turn out to be so totally off base--in this case, an overemphsis on the physical organs led doctors to perform sex change operations on young children before their innate sexuality was clearly identified. We would all like to beleive in the good faith and open-mindedness of the medical profession, but sexuality seems to be an area where doctors are especially prone to believe that things are turning out the way they want them to rather than the way they really are. There are always two sides, but the conduct of the physicians in this case--the researchers who hailed this as a landmark case of true change of sex--is hard to explain. Anyone who has experience with young children knows that they begin to exhibit "boy" and "girl" qualities at a very early age. Modern gene research tells us that sexuality is a most complex matter, hardly as simple as what organ a person has.
Rating:
Summary: Maybe Doctors aren't God after all.
Review: A good read for anyone who doesn't think they should question authority.
Rating:
Summary: A model of popular science, and a great read
Review: John Colapinto has done everyone a great service, in digging up the truth of this story, and putting it down in print for all to see. Dr. John Money would (you imagine) find it hard to look himself in the mirror after reading this. He comes off as the heavy in this book, a slave to his overweening ambition and intellectual arrogance. The hero is Bruce/David, the boy who tragically lost his genitals in an accident, and then, at Dr. Money's insistence, was reassigned to the female sex and raised as a girl, "Brenda." It's a harrowing tale, and it completely destroys Dr. Money's theory that social pressure and sex-of-assignment will easily outweigh trivial facts (such as genetic sex!) The "experiment" was so harrowing and so disgusting to David that he really refuses to think about it or discuss it. Note also Dr. Money's contemptible conduct in trying to "cover up" this true story. Hihgly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: Creepy and sad
Review: Although well-written, I found this book to be intensely creepy and sad. Once you get the point -- this poor boy was denied his true identity -- what else is left except one sad anecdote after another. It's a true tragedy, and not one that makes for particularly compelling reading, IMHO.
Rating:
Summary: Never should the opinion of a Doctor go unquestioned.
Review: One great thing this book does is unmask the fact that many "Scholars," Medical Doctors and Psychologists/Physiatrists will often use patients to test out pet theories, or to forward personal agendas for gains in prestige and money, of course. So, next time a physician or shrink suggests some sort of treatment or therapy to fix something, and it seems dubious - it probably is. Never should the opinion of these professionals go unquestioned. They need to be able to present acceptable statistical and scientifically rigorous evidence if they're suggesting something as radical as surgically changing one's genitals. And parents should always be informed of what a psychologist intends to say to a child in a therapy session. The fact that this child in the book was subjected to pornography as part of his/her treatment is an outrage.
Rating:
Summary: Very emotive and interesting book!!!
Review: This book was written in such a way that kept me reading. I could hardly put it down. What happened to this boy is really terrible. He inspires me in many ways to know that he could keep going even after all that has happened to him. I admire his strength to go on and all his wisdom he has gained from his experience.
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