Amateur, Thomas Page McBee
Amateur, Thomas Page McBee
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Amateur
A True Story About What Makes a Man

Author: Thomas Page McBee

Narrator: Thomas Page McBee

Unabridged: 3 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/14/2018


Synopsis

*Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction
*Shortlisted for the Lambda Literary Award
*Shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize

One of The Times UK’s Best Memoirs of 2018, BuzzFeed’s Best Nonfiction of 2018, Autostraddle’s Best LGBT Books of 2018, and 52 Insight’s Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2018

A “no-holds-barred examination of masculinity” (BuzzFeed) and violence from award-winning author Thomas Page McBee.

In this “refreshing and radical” (The Guardian) narrative, Thomas McBee, a trans man, sets out to uncover what makes a man—and what being a “good” man even means—through his experience training for and fighting in a charity boxing match at Madison Square Garden. A self-described “amateur” at masculinity, McBee embarks on a wide-ranging exploration of gender in society, examining sexism, toxic masculinity, and privilege. As he questions the limitations of gender roles and the roots of masculine aggression, he finds intimacy, hope, and even love in the experience of boxing and in his role as a man in the world. Despite personal history and cultural expectations, “Amateur is a reminder that the individual can still come forward and fight” (The A.V. Club).

“Sharp and precise, open and honest,” (Women’s Review of Books), McBee’s writing asks questions “relevant to all people, trans or not” (New York Newsday). Through interviews with experts in neuroscience, sociology, and critical race theory, he constructs a deft and thoughtful examination of the role of men in contemporary society. Amateur is a graceful and uncompromising look at gender by a fearless, fiercely honest writer.

About Thomas Page McBee

Thomas Page McBee was the first transgender man to ever box in Madison Square Garden. He is the author of Amateur and an award-winning memoir, Man Alive: A True Story of Violence, Forgiveness, and Becoming a Man, which was named a best book of 2014 by NPR Books, BuzzFeed, Kirkus Reviews, and Publishers Weekly. Thomas’s writing has appeared in The Rumpus, Pacific Standard, The New York Times, Playboy, and Glamour.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Eilonwy on April 20, 2019

Only four years after finally getting the male body he always knew he was, transman Thomas McBee convinces an editor to enter him in a charity boxing match at Madison Square Garden. No, he's never boxed before. He mostly runs, and that's the kind of body he has: 5'6" tall, and 130 pounds (skinny, fo......more

Goodreads review by cameron on March 19, 2025

unfortunately did not feel quite as moved by this as the first time i read it which was very recently after me coming out. i think it has an important context and is interesting to see a story from the 2012-2019 pro trans liberal time, but with all the regression and violence that has happened to th......more

Goodreads review by Gafas y Ojeras on October 04, 2021

Muchos pensamientos se acumulan en mi cabeza tras haber leído esta especie de memorias en las que Thomas Page MacBee nos narra su proceso de transición tras haberse sometido a su intervención de cambio de género. Lo hace en primera persona desarmando cada uno de sus miedos, mostrando todas las conse......more

Goodreads review by Rosamund on June 28, 2021

Originally a piece of journalism, this account describes McBee learning to box in order to take part in a charity boxing match. McBee is trans, and wanted to learn about the hyper-macho world of boxing in order to better understand masculinity and his own relationship with being a man. Like many pie......more

Goodreads review by Austen on December 13, 2018

I'm so thankful for the way McBee put into words so much of what I've often felt about masculinity. I don't know if I've ever felt as seen as I did reading this book. This is an important read, not just for other trans men, but for people of all genders who are trying to figure out what to do with t......more