William
Maltese, prolific writer, reviews Alice in Genderland and interviews
its author...
Author
Novic
Book Reviewby William Maltese:
ALICE IN GENDERLAND: A Crossdresser Comes of Age
by Richard J. Novic, MD
Paperback: 292 pages
iUniverse, Inc. (January 5, 2005)
ISBN: 0595315623
I’ve had the extreme pleasure of having had many gay men in and out of my life for a very long time. Many of them have been good friends; one, even now, is my best friend. I’ve always seemed to have a comfortable affinity with lesbians, even with the ones who could likely pin me to the mat in under five seconds and beat me in arm wrestling every time; once I even found myself on the advisory board of a lesbian nightclub. For over a year, I received carte-blanche entrée to the backstage of a transvestite showplace in Seattle, Washington; it’s kind of hard not to get close with any group of people with whom you suddenly find yourself squashed while they perform the intimate details of transformation into cabaret stars each evening. I’ve personally known and enjoyed the social company of at least two transsexuals — one of whom was previously a cute young gal before having been surgically reconstructed into a cute young guy; we regularly used to seek out each other whenever the two of us found ourselves momentarily available in a certain New York bistro on slow evenings.
Before Richard/Alice Novic came along with ALICE IN GENDERLAND: A CROSSDRESSER COMES OF AGE, I think I knew exactly one heterosexual cross-dresser, and he was literally mad as a hatter and was committed, eventually, to a medical institution in upstate Connecticut. “Ted” wasn’t a friend, and I used to avoid him and his equally mad wife whenever I spotted them, going out of my way to either completely vacate the premises or give them a very wide berth. That I’d met him at all was because he was an intimate friend of a friend who had once confessed, after one drink too many, that Ted had a penchant for dressing up in women’s panties and undies, needing to be handcuffed spread-eagled to a sturdy coffee tale, and whipped bloody with an English riding crop, as a prelude to sex. As my friend was usually too squeamish to oblige with such preliminaries, the job was done by Ted’s wife who would then either pull up a chair and watch the ensuing sex, or join in it.
I say, I think I knew exactly one heterosexual cross-dresser, because I never actually saw Ted in a teddy, and God only knows how many other straight cross-dressers I may have encountered without even knowing that they wore women’s silk panties, and not Jockey briefs, beneath their Sunday suits. Straight cross-dressers aren’t often easily spotted, preferring to do what they do beneath the concealment of ordinary clothes and/or within the privacy of their own homes, locked behind closed doors. An acquaintance of mine who worked at a hospital did once remark that he was surprised by how many male accident victims showed up in the Emergency Room, outer clothes cut off and/or removed to reveal silk stockings and garters.
Quite frankly, I’ve always previously looked upon heterosexual cross-dressers as some kind of exotic and rare animal species, always reported having been spotted by someone other than by me, and seemingly forever illusive as far as I was concerned. For all of you who have felt the same, we can thank our lucky stars for the welcome appearance of Richard/Alice Novic and the author’s enlightening new book ALICE IN GENDERLAND. Likewise, straight cross-dressers should feel equally as lucky, in that it’s highly unlikely that they could have come across a better, more informed, and more erudite spokesperson to divulge so sympathetically their life-style’s trials and tribulations, failures and successes. A psychiatrist as well as a cross-dresser, Richard/Alice arrives on the memoir scene with all of the necessary professional credentials to consider all of the medical world’s conjecture on why donning female clothing should provide sexual arousal for some heterosexual men. As a natural writer, he’s able to insert all of this usually dry scientific jargon within his vignette-filled I-am-a-cross-dresser text in such a way as to make it anything but the dull reading it invariably comes across (to most of us, anyway) in all other presently available venues.
And I like it, too, that Richard/Alice doesn’t shirk in providing all of the detailed and intimately sexual (heartbreak and cosmic-orgasmic) side of being a straight cross-dresser. As the author told me in interview (See MALTESE INTERVIEWS NOVIC elsewhere in this edition): “Sex is a part of life, and an important part of transgender life. I can’t imagine leaving it out.”
However, for those of you who are squeamish about reading the what, where, when, and why of one sexual organ doing this or that to some other sexual organ, don’t let that stop you from picking up this totally enlightening book about one until-now thoroughly obscure aspect of the transgender world that suddenly has a wondrously revealing spotlight aimed dead-center on it (skip the touchy-feely parts!).
There certainly isn’t a better book on this subject matter presently “out there” (if any other such memoir exists at all), and it would behoove anyone who is part of the GLTB community to make himself/herself as thoroughly informed as possible about those who share space on this Earth with them.
It goes without saying (a no-brainer, here!) that for any straight women at all involved seriously (in marriage, or thinking thereof?) with any heterosexual man into cross-dressing, this book is definitely a must-read.
William Maltese (WM): Alice, IGW readers are always interested in hearing how an author decides to publish Print on Demand, especially in your case when, seemingly, at least at first glance, you have a unique book of likely interest to a major publisher.
Alice Novic (AN): I tested the waters a bit, but publishing houses seem to be motivated mostly by a book’s ability to make bucks. The handful of agents and publishers I spoke to knew little about the transgender community and felt unsure of their ability to market my book to the mainstream.
WM: While on the subject of POD books, not particularly well known for their high quality editing, I did note that your book came off decidedly better vetted than the majority.
AN: Basically, I noticed a few obvious things that my iUniverse editor missed and immediately lost my sense of If she says “It’s good to go,” then it’s good to go. I realized that I’d have to hire some quality outside help and develop my own intimate relationship with the Chicago Manual of Style. I hired an editor who works with a lot of books that get made into movies. She took a look at my rough draft and said, “You’ve got an amazing story here. But it’s really just one long diary. Go back and find the twenty most important events and put me there in your shoes, moment by moment, impression by impression, line by line, and action by action.”
WM: And what catalyst in your life brought you to write ALICE IN GENDERLAND: A CROSSDRESSER COMES OF AGE?
AN: First off, I noticed there was a definite gap to be filled when I couldn’t find even one contemporary cross-dressing memoir — only one about a WW2-era German cross-dresser who murdered his father and another about an old college professor who never set foot outside his house in women’s wear. Secondly, as a cross-dresser and a bisexual, I came of age in a way fearful and fascinating, terrible yet resoundingly triumphant, but only a few of my confidants knew my story; even I was beginning to forget bits and pieces.
WM: And, you expect readers to come away from your book with what?
AN: Hopefully, transgender readers will learn from my struggles and benefit from my perspective as psychiatrist-cross-dresser, so we can get on with the fun of being who we are rather than just repeating the trials and tribulations of past generations. I hope non-transgender readers will enjoy this window into the life of someone they’d not normally meet (or know they’ve met) and come away with the sense of cross-dressers as real, thinking, breathing, loving human beings.
WM: What did you personally learn (if anything), from the writing process?
AN: At the outset, I thought I had a firm grasp on my life story. But in writing ALICE IN GENDERLAND, I discovered places where my memories and thoughts grew fuzzy. In rising to meet this challenge, I gained a much better understanding what the female part of me is and what it isn’t, and how the important people in my life may have been affected by my cross-dressing.
WM: When writing your book, were you one of those authors who have a need to write at least something every day, or …?
AN: I plugged away regularly and persistently on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays for about four years, while working Monday through Thursday as a private-practice psychiatrist.
WM: Did the writing come easily; this being your first book?
AN: Although writing ALICE IN GENDERLAND was at times pure joy, at other times it was a daunting endeavor, because I’d never even written a short story before. I found that doing it well would be like building a house by myself. I was going to have to learn an awful lot about carpentry, electricity, and plumbing along the way.
WM: Let’s talk about the sex, since your book (thank God!) isn’t in the least namby-pamby about getting down to the nitty-gritty basics as regards your sex-life as a cross-dresser.
AN: You know, some people are shocked at my candor. Maybe I’ve been in Los Angeles too long, but I can’t think of anything more liberating than sitting back with a t-friend and sharing sexy secrets over fresh fish and sangria. Sex is a part of life, and an important part of transgender life. I can’t imagine leaving it out.
WM: Any plans for ALICE IN GENDERLAND PART TWO?
AN: Not at this time, William. I’m still lying back and smoking that proverbial cigarette after all the excitement of part one.
WM: Well, from one satisfied reader, thanks for the informative ride.