The First Man-Made Man: The Story of Two Sex Changes, One Love Affair, and a Twentieth-Century Medical Revolution

by Pagan Kennedy

Book Overview

In the 1920s when Laura Dillon felt like a man trapped in a woman's body, there were no words to describe her condition; transsexuals had yet to enter common usage. And there was no known solution to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 159691016X
• ISBN13: 9781596910164
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Length: 214 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

the Mystery of trans ...and the best trans bio by far

Although I am involved in the trans community- both personally and professionally- and I am also a published writer, I generally am not impressed by the "trans biography" genre. Maybe because, although transitioning is a pretty big journey to an individual and in most cases requires a good bit of soul-searching and courage, you really have to do more than change your sex to make yourself a worthy subject for a good biography in my opinion. Dillon however, is a man who deserves it (a film too, hopefully, but they'd better cast a man to play him, this habit of women playing transitioned men just doesn't do them justice). Not only was Michael the first to transition to male before the word "transexual" existed, before Christine Jorgensen came out, but he lived the life of a legend- outfitting the oxfords womens row team in mens uniforms and rowing them upstream, dodging bombs and putting out fires during the blitz, publishing the first book on the medical ethics of treating transexuality with hormones, becoming an MD and performing an illegal operation on another transexual, working on ships crossing the globe for months at sea, giving up all worldly possessions and fleeing to the cliffs of Tibet to live as the only westerner at the hellish Rizong monastery...trans or not, this guys life is as exciting as Hemingway's, and he deserves his place in the annals of modern western history. I was surprised I'd never heard of him before. One thing I did not like was that the author sort of gave him this "pathetic" flavor, which is commonly projected onto the lives of trans people. "Poor Michael Dillon, he just wanted to be normal and he never got peace and his penis was weird and he never got laid". It's sad that even a pioneering, dauntless, incredible individual who changed reality to conform to his vision, who lived a tumultuous, georgeous, meaningful life to rival any of the 20th century, is framed through this lens. I woudl give 4.5 stars- it could not totally avoid the "depressing tranny" trap. (It's true he was never fully happy in the end, but who would be after years of being reviled and treated like the elephant man? Irregardless, transition is not a panacea for all problems in one's life). Also, there was not enough about the love affair, which seemed unrequited and slightly disappointing. I found the info about the beginnings of plastic surgery and sexual medicine/psychology to be fascinating. What was also fascinating to me, is the sheer magic of him- even in this day and age, when there are laws in many cities to protect trans from discrimination, when there are trans bars and shows and dating sites and guidances for treating transition- it is very difficult to convince person after person to change your identity documentation and records. In the 1920's, before Harry Benjamin, before Christine Jorgenson, before even Hirschfield- Michael Dillon was able to convince a doctor to give him testosterone, convince legal personnel to change hi

Understand Transgenderism

The true story of two sex changes is interwoven with scientific, medical and social history. You'll understand how difficult it is to change genders.

Spellbinding and fantastic

The First Man-Made Man is enthralling, as gripping as the most powerful novel, written with exquisite authority and mastery. Rich in fascinating biographical, sociological and medical research, it's as suspenseful as a Hitchcock thriller. I was hooked from the first page and couldn't put this gorgeous book down, reading it breathlessly. The characters leap from the page, extraordinary and courageous. Pagan Kennedy takes a subject that might, in less capable hands, be sensationalized, and instead turns it into a profoundly human and moving story about yearning and loneliness, and an intense, existential quest for identity. The restless, searching spirit of Michael Dillon, brave and reviled, is captured vividly. He emerges as a vulnerable person of tremendous grace and dignity. From the posh halls of Oxford to the back of a dingy garage, from a ship sailing across the open seas to a remote Tibetan Buddhist monastery, First Man-Made Man catapults the reader into one memorable man's wild, often hostile, world. This poetic adventure is unforgettable.

fascinating, heartbreaking, beautifully written true story

The First Man-Made Man is a remarkable, poignant personal story that Pagan Kennedy has skillfully woven in with the medical, scientific and social history of the mid-20th century. Anybody who's ever felt hemmed in by gender roles will be able to relate to Laura Dillon's dissatisfactions with being a girl in pre-WWII England, and Kennedy's compassionate writing carries us along the rest of the bizarre trip. The story is full of rich, novelistic details: Laura's mother dying giving birth to her; Laura living as a man in a garage putting out fires during the Blitz; Laura/Michael's surgeon figuring out how to construct a penis; Buddhist monks' attitudes toward members of "the third sex." It's impossible not to race through this fascinating book, but it lingers in the mind long after.

Truly amazing!

One of the most fascinating books I've ever read. Kennedy manages to take on a variety of subjects and plot lines than in another writer's hands could come across as, well, callow or, as Dillon feared his entire adult life, exploitive. The heartbreakingly story of Michael Dillon's continuous quest for acceptance and identity, whether it be gender driven or spiritual, is deftly portrayed by this generous and brilliant writer. Even in the most curious aspects of this story, Kennedy remains a historian, never giving judgment, but simply reporting the complicated facts of the story in a beautifully written narrative. Pagan has written several outstanding works of fiction and non-fiction (I especially love The Exes), but this is truly a masterpiece from one of the most original and exciting writers of our time. I can't wait to see what she tackles next.