““Books were irreplaceable to me as a teenage trans person trying to figure out my identity. I bought or borrowed every one I could find, and the feeling of being reflected–as well as being challenged by learning how differently others live their lives–was integral to finding myself as a trans man. I believe many trans people still look to books to help them see themselves or expand their world. There’s something more lasting, more visceral about interacting with a book full of narratives, rather than reading blog posts or advice columns online. There will always be a place for trans books.””
![“["Manning Up"'s] essays definitely nuance the idea of transitioning into a “shared manhood” (much like feminists of color have complicated the idea of “shared womanhood”). Trans men don’t all transition to just become “men,” which was one of the projects’ cornerstone concepts. They become black…” quote by Mitch Kellaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/118/mitch-kellaway-52397_feminism_manning-up-s-essays-definitely-nuance-th_1256955.jpg)
![“The term “FTM-Butch Border War” just sounds like an alien land of yore. How is it that the gravitational pull of my beard and low-voice should hold [my lesbian friend's] masculinity in deferential orbit? That when standing side-by-side we are supposedly read in comparison, rendering her…” quote by Mitch Kellaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/300/mitch-kellaway-52397_masculinity_the-term-ftm-butch-border-war-just-sound_276237.jpg)
![“That night I looked Stephanie [Burt] up online and started reading more about her work...I kept encountering a striking factoid...: she’s often cited as the most influential poetry critic of her generation. And she’s openly trans. This is not the world I was taught I would grow into when I was a…” quote by Mitch Kellaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e62/mitch-kellaway-52397_poetry_that-night-i-looked-stephanie-burt-up-on_1972814.jpg)
