folieassdeux's review
2.0
This memoir by Jill Soloway is about a lot of things. Mainly it's about the process of making, of creation, of producing a piece of art that you as the artist live within. It's about cultivating a co-operative and loving space where people are free to to contribute and lead without fear. It's about the film industry, about celebrity and bureaucracy. It's about feminism, feminist theory, queer theory, the #metoo movement. It's about self-exploration, therapy, overcoming your fears, and moving beyond the heteronormative relationships and families that society expects. It's about prioritising your family, in whatever form that takes, above your work, and about doing the work to understand and embrace the people closest to you. It's about how to cope when you find out that this perfect, collaborative space you've created has been the hunting ground for a sexual predator, and how to move on from that.
Sometimes while I was reading this, I thought the memoir was about too many things. Soloway jumps from topic to topic, from time frame to time frame, and the result is a bit of a confused timeline of too many aspects of their life and childhood. However, there's something about this confusion that's essential to the book, because the main running theme is exploration of the self through parenthood, gender, sexuality, and artistry, and with that comes a multitude of avenues of improvement.
Ultimately I think this memoir was a valuable read, because Soloway doesn't shy away from their ignorant past, and frankly presents their less-than-perfect reaction to their parent's transition, how they took that story without permission and turned it into a TV show which went on to win them several Emmys, and their hypocrisy in the face of #metoo accusations. By the end of the memoir you can see how Soloway has not only actively embraced new experiences and knowledge to become a better and more understanding person, but literally gone through a physical and mental transformation to inhabit a new, more queer, more feminist world. While I frequently experienced irritation throughout the memoir at their behaviour, I think it's important to recognise that nobody is perfect, and if anything Soloway's ultimate aim of making the world a better and more accepting place is commendable.
This memoir was written so soon after the investigation into Jeffrey Tambor that the details couldn't even be published, and the book ends with a bit of a cliffhanger as to the fate of Transparent - Amazon has given a go ahead for season 5 without Tambor, and I'll be interested to see where the story goes.
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House UK, Ebury Publishing, for the advance copy in return for an unbiased review.
Sometimes while I was reading this, I thought the memoir was about too many things. Soloway jumps from topic to topic, from time frame to time frame, and the result is a bit of a confused timeline of too many aspects of their life and childhood. However, there's something about this confusion that's essential to the book, because the main running theme is exploration of the self through parenthood, gender, sexuality, and artistry, and with that comes a multitude of avenues of improvement.
Ultimately I think this memoir was a valuable read, because Soloway doesn't shy away from their ignorant past, and frankly presents their less-than-perfect reaction to their parent's transition, how they took that story without permission and turned it into a TV show which went on to win them several Emmys, and their hypocrisy in the face of #metoo accusations. By the end of the memoir you can see how Soloway has not only actively embraced new experiences and knowledge to become a better and more understanding person, but literally gone through a physical and mental transformation to inhabit a new, more queer, more feminist world. While I frequently experienced irritation throughout the memoir at their behaviour, I think it's important to recognise that nobody is perfect, and if anything Soloway's ultimate aim of making the world a better and more accepting place is commendable.
This memoir was written so soon after the investigation into Jeffrey Tambor that the details couldn't even be published, and the book ends with a bit of a cliffhanger as to the fate of Transparent - Amazon has given a go ahead for season 5 without Tambor, and I'll be interested to see where the story goes.
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House UK, Ebury Publishing, for the advance copy in return for an unbiased review.
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