Tango: My Childhood, Backwards and in High Heels

by Justin Vivian Bond

Overview

"Like Bond, the memoir is droll, pensive and filled with zingers teetering between funny and ferocious."—The New York Times

Hailed as “the greatest cabaret artist of [V’s] generation” in the New Yorker, Mx. Justin Vivian Bond makes a brilliant literary debut with this candid and hilarious coming-of-age tale.

Bond recalls in vivid detail how it looked and felt to first discover Mom's lipstick (Iced Watermelon by Revlon), and how dreary it could be for a trans/queer kid to join the Cub Scouts. Always haunted by the knowledge of being "different," Bond began to create intimate friendships with girls, and to feel increasingly at risk with boys. But when the bully next door wanted to meet secretly, Bond couldn't resist. Their trysts went on for years, making Bond acutely aware of how sexual power and vulnerability can be experienced at the same time. With inimitable style, Bond raises issues about LBGTQ adolescence, parenting trans/queer children, and bullying, while being utterly entertaining.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781558617476
Publisher:	Feminist Press at CUNY, The
Publication date:	08/16/2011
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Mx Justin Vivian Bond is a trans-genre artist living in New York City. As a performer both on and Off-Broadway, Mx Bond has received numerous accolades winning an Obie (2001), a Bessie (2004), a Tony nomination (2007), the Ethyl Eichelberger Award (2007), The Peter Reed Foundaton Grant, and a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant for Artists.

Editorial Reviews

The author's fans know Bond better as Kiki, the all-talking all-singing, rage-and-booze-fueled half of Kiki and Herb—downtown cabaret sensations who recently starred in the Tony-nominated Kiki and Herb on Broadway. Kiki isn't Bond, of course, but her fans will not be shocked to find that Bond's childhood—though it didn't include an orphanage like the one where Kiki and Herb met—wasn't all roses and fun. Featuring a long-term secret affair with the neighborhood bully and parents who seemed to wish they'd had a different child, Bond's childhood was spent longing to be understood, loved, and allowed to wear lipstick. Though it's impossible not to sympathize, Bond is given to stating the obvious. Despite how voice-driven (in every sense of the word) Kiki and Herb were, the book's voice feels muted and not particularly individual. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"[A] witty and touching memoir. . . [A] frank discussion of the ways in which [V] felt compelled to suppress [V's] emotions, [V's] sexuality, and [V's] true identity growing up. [V] suffered a great deal, and yet [V's] tone is never self-pitying." —New Yorker

"A story that is personal, yet undeniably universal at the same time." —Lambda Literary

“Bond’s fabulosity is matched by a trenchant wit, and [V’s] over-the-top stories are smartly edged with politics, sexual or otherwise.” —New York Times

"A brief yet remarkably candid memoir of growing up different. . . Poignant and funny. . ." —Kirkus

“Thank you, Justin, for your courage in writing the truth of what you went through as a transgender child in this society. Thank you, also, for your sense of humor. This book is very important, and fun to read as well.” —Yoko Ono, artist

“When I say Justin Vivian Bond is a true original, what I mean is, Justin doesn’t resemble anyone else on the face of the planet. When I say Justin Bond is touched by genius, I mean exactly that.” —Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours

"Tango is a raw nerve touching an electric soul, a beautiful book, written with honesty, pain, and joy from one of our great modern day shamans." —Sandra Bernhard, comedian

"Justin Vivian Bond is a lightning rod, a solid steel structure in heels that attracts burning chaos and disciplines it into orderly submission. Am I allowed to say that Justin is God?” —Rufus Wainwright, musician

"Tango should be in the hands of every child who can read, and of
every adult who cares about that child." —Michael Warner, author of The Trouble with Normal

“Reading Tango is like listening to your favorite eccentric cousin or auntie tell you hair-raising tales of innocence lost and found, friendships forged of adversity, and bullies bewildered by their own perversity. Justin spins a one-of-a-kind story that you won't be able to put down.” —Kate Bornstein, author of Gender Outlaw



"[A] witty and touching memoir. . . [A] frank discussion of the ways in which [V] felt compelled to suppress [V's] emotions, [V's] sexuality, and [V's] true identity growing up. [V] suffered a great deal, and yet [V's] tone is never self-pitying." —New Yorker

"A story that is personal, yet undeniably universal at the same time." —Lambda Literary

“Bond’s fabulosity is matched by a trenchant wit, and [V’s] over-the-top stories are smartly edged with politics, sexual or otherwise.” —New York Times

"A brief yet remarkably candid memoir of growing up different. . . Poignant and funny. . ." —Kirkus

“Thank you, Justin, for your courage in writing the truth of what you went through as a transgender child in this society. Thank you, also, for your sense of humor. This book is very important, and fun to read as well.” —Yoko Ono, artist

“When I say Justin Vivian Bond is a true original, what I mean is, Justin doesn’t resemble anyone else on the face of the planet. When I say Justin Bond is touched by genius, I mean exactly that.” —Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours

"Tango is a raw nerve touching an electric soul, a beautiful book, written with honesty, pain, and joy from one of our great modern day shamans." —Sandra Bernhard, comedian

"Justin Vivian Bond is a lightning rod, a solid steel structure in heels that attracts burning chaos and disciplines it into orderly submission. Am I allowed to say that Justin is God?” —Rufus Wainwright, musician

"Tango should be in the hands of every child who can read, and of every adult who cares about that child." —Michael Warner, author of The Trouble with Normal

“Reading Tango is like listening to your favorite eccentric cousin or auntie tell you hair-raising tales of innocence lost and found, friendships forged of adversity, and bullies bewildered by their own perversity. Justin spins a one-of-a-kind story that you won't be able to put down.” —Kate Bornstein, author of Gender Outlaw

From the Publisher

06/01/2016
Witty and poignant, this memoir discusses V's queer and transgender childhood. A diagnosis of attention deficit disorder and the imprisonment of Bond's first lover/childhood bully prompt V to reflect on life as a child who did not conform to archetypical gender or sexual roles. At times sexually and violently explicit, this is a quick but powerful read. (LJ 9/15/11)

Library Journal

A brief yet remarkably candid memoir of growing up different, by a world-renowned cabaret performer and transgender advocate.

Prompted to recall his childhood after learning of his neighbor and longtime tormentor's arrest for impersonating a police officer, Bond remembers in vivid detail his unusual adolescence, including the peculiar relationship he formed with the now-jailed local bully. Living in suburban Maryland in the '70s, the author obsessed over Rita Hayworth and other stars of her time, danced like Ginger Rogers and enjoyed wearing lipstick out in public, all of which continued despite his parents' best attempts to "straighten" him out, including wallpapering his bedroom with a cowboys and Indians theme, to Bond's despair. Throughout this time, he hid a deep secret: a years-long, often abusive sexual relationship with Hunter, a popular, older boy who tantalized, humiliated and even threatened him. Beginning at age 11 on a boy scouts camping trip, Bond and Hunter had sex in pools, snow forts and tree houses. Accused by Hunter's mother of "using" her son for his pool, Bond remembered the sexual favors he would perform with Hunter for the opportunity to enjoy the pool. Outside of their physical encounters, Hunter either ignored Bond or harassed him, calling him a "fag" and spreading ugly rumors at school. Generally friendless except for a girl, who later took an overdose of pills, Bond's situation gradually improved in high school—he got his first car, decorated his room according to his tastes and even dated a girl. He finally broke it off with Hunter, threatening to out the older boy if he continued to demand sex.

Poignant and funny, Bond offers insight into the childhood and mindset of gay and transgender individuals, but the graphic depictions of sex between young boys may frighten some readers.

Kirkus Reviews