This spring, the SPIRIT Initiative will be hosting a book club spotlighting the book Becoming a Man: The Story of a Transition by P. Carl. Becoming a Man is the striking memoir of P. Carl’s journey to become the man he always knew himself to be. As Carl embarks on his gender transition, he takes us inside the complex shifts and questions that arise throughout—the alternating moments of arrival and estrangement. He writes intimately about how transitioning reconfigures both his own inner experience and his closest bonds—his twenty-year relationship with his wife, Lynette; his already tumultuous relationships with his parents; and seemingly solid friendships that are subtly altered, often painfully and wordlessly. Carl blends the remarkable story of his own personal journey with incisive cultural commentary, writing brilliantly about gender, power, and inequality in America.

This discussion will be the second of three meetings for this book. Please read Chapters 6-9 (pages 75-160) for this meeting.