Orlando's Sleep: An Autobiography of Gender

This autobiography explores the complex issues of gender identity, beginning with John Spry's boyhood in Australia, through marriage and ultimately to her coming out as Jennifer, a transgendered lesbian. As a child Spry cherished the moments when he was left alone at home so he could dress up in his mother's clothes; in adolescence he tried hard to prove his manhood by competitive sailing and heavy drinking. When even marriage and fatherhood failed to make a man of him, John began the long journey towards recognition of herself as Jennifer, a woman and a lesbian. A profoundly personal yet provocatively political discussion of courage, gender, sexuality, and transformation.