A review by utopologist
Houston, Houston, Do You Read? by James Tiptree Jr.

4.0

There's a lot in here that has not aged well. The discourse around gender has changed a lot, but I was still able to really appreciate what Tiptree/Sheldon was trying to accomplish here. There's a bit too much biological determinism for my liking, but the question of whether the concepts of "men" and "male" are redeemable is a compelling one. My takeaway as a cisgender man reading this is that there is hope, but not for us. Masculinity is a prison and in this story, Tiptree/Sheldon rejects the idea that it can be rehabilitated. I've thought as much for a while; so it goes.

As to the structure of the book, it took me a little bit to grasp what was happening regarding flashbacks and viewpoint shifts. Also, there's a lengthy sexual assault scene that made me hugely uncomfortable, but when I finished the novella I realized that its presence is integral to Tiptree/Sheldon's themes.