In this week's edition of Endnotes, we take a look at Jennifer Finney Boylan's Cleavage: Men, Women, and the Space Between Us, a memoir-in-essays reflectinng on Boylan's status as a trans elder more than 20 years after her transition. In its review, PW says "readers will be equal parts entertained and edified."
Here's how the book came together:
Jennifer Finney Boylan
“This book was revised and revised and revised—just like me. I have a strong belief that there is a connection between the way we rewrite ourselves on the page and the way we recreate ourselves in our lives. Every day you wake up is an opportunity for a new draft of the self. Transgender people’s journey to reinvention might be unique, but all of us change from one thing to another over the course of our lives.”
Kristine Dahl
“Jenny has bravely and hilariously animated her personal life in memoirs, but Cleavage feels like an especially important work for America 2025. It’s a rich and textured portrait of a devoted marriage and loving family normalized over time. Jenny always believed love would save her. And it does.”
Deb Futter
“Cleavage was part of a two-book deal, but it’s a book Jenny and I have talked about for a long time. It not only looks at the world from a man’s and woman’s perspective and is a real commentary on gender but it’s also about how being a transgender woman has changed so much in the 20 years since Jenny transitioned.”
Anne Twomey
“The author suggested something witty like the famous Sophia Loren–Jayne Mansfield shot. We all loved it. I reached out to a photo researcher who was able to secure rights. The type layout was simple so as to keep it about the image, with a contemporary type that nodded ever so lightly to the era.”
