Christine Jorgensen: A Personal Autobiography

1967, 1968 Bantam edition
Christine Jorgensen
Christine Jorgensen: A Personal Autobiography
Original price 95 cents, purchase price 25 cents
Very worn paperback
B-

Jorgensen tells of her life before, during, and after her famous transition, although understandably almost a third of the book is set in the first year following her second (of three) sex-change operations.  (The first operation drew no media or other attention, but word leaked to the press after she wrote a letter to her family.)  Through it all, Jorgensen maintained her dignity and sense of humor.  It's been six decades since the year she became the most heavily discussed person in the world, and she's still recognized as a pioneer in the acceptance of "transsexuals."  (It's now less acceptable to use the word as a noun than as an adjective, although the term itself was very new at the time this book was written.)

As for the autobiography itself, Jorgensen is a pretty good storyteller but I can't say it's that fascinating a life.  I didn't really care about her nightclub career or experiences in home-buying.  (The photography was interesting but then she dropped it.)  As she admits, she wasn't an extraordinary person; she just dealt well with extraordinary circumstances, the media attention being a different burden than her depression over her identity when she was younger.  But maybe it's her being a good and average person that makes her heroism more impressive.  She just wanted to lead a normal life, and that was easier to do post-surgery than before, despite what people expected.