Variations
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-07-07 08:52:04
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Juliet Jacques
- ISBN：1910312770
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Summary
Variations is the debut short story collection from one of Britain's most compelling voices， Juliet Jacques。 Using fiction inspired by found material and real-life events， Variations explores the history of transgender Britain with lyrical， acerbic wit。 Variations travels from Oscar Wilde's London to austerity-era Belfast via inter-war Cardiff， a drag bar in Liverpool just after the decriminalisation of homosexuality， Manchester's protests against Clause 28， and Brighton in the 2000s。 Through diary entries of an illicit love affair， an oral history of a contemporary political collective; a 1920s academic paper to a 1990s film script; a 1950s memoir to a series of 2014 blog posts， Jacques rewrites and reinvigorates a history so often relegated to stale police records and sensationalist news headlines。 Innovative and fresh， Variations is a bold and beautiful book of stories unheard; until now。
Reviews
Morgan M。 Page
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We've been here before has become a rallying call for trans people over the past decade， following the so-called Transgender Tipping Point that launched us onto the global stage。 That Tipping Point， and the wave of backlash it has received， was premised on the idea that trans people are somehow new， or that our struggle for liberation is anyway。 Juliet Jacques' debut short story collection Variations tears away that false premise， revealing - through 11 stories， some more and some less fictional We've been here before has become a rallying call for trans people over the past decade， following the so-called Transgender Tipping Point that launched us onto the global stage。 That Tipping Point， and the wave of backlash it has received， was premised on the idea that trans people are somehow new， or that our struggle for liberation is anyway。 Juliet Jacques' debut short story collection Variations tears away that false premise， revealing - through 11 stories， some more and some less fictional - over a century and a half of trans life in the United Kingdom。As with all collections， some stories shine more than others， but Jacques keeps our interest through genre shifts。 Each story reflects a different mode - epistolary， academic essays， screenplays， blog posts。 It's a brilliant gimmick， reflecting each time period in even the structure of the writing。 She can be forgiven the occasional anachronisms that appear here and there。A stunning debut that promises much more to come from this writer。 。。。more
Siobhan
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Variations is a collection of short stories about trans lives in Britain， exploring experiences from London in the days of Oscar Wilde's trial to 2010s media and internet culture。 The stories are all written in different formats and styles， taking inspiration from real life events and material， and are presented chronologically， though some are retrospective and looking back at the past。 From a metafictional film script to an academic paper， Jacques finds innovative ways to tell stories and refl Variations is a collection of short stories about trans lives in Britain， exploring experiences from London in the days of Oscar Wilde's trial to 2010s media and internet culture。 The stories are all written in different formats and styles， taking inspiration from real life events and material， and are presented chronologically， though some are retrospective and looking back at the past。 From a metafictional film script to an academic paper， Jacques finds innovative ways to tell stories and reflect on how trans voices can be heard。 Though this is a short story collection， it feels a lot more than that， with everything feeling connected and part of a complex， multi-faceted narrative to explore histories and how they are told。 It's unlike any collection I've read before in terms of the format， and I found that so enjoyable that I almost wanted to draw out the reading process， letting anticipation build for what would come next。The stories themselves are quite visceral， exploring identity and hope， friendship and community， but always with an edge of biting commentary。 In particular， the final piece in the book， a trans man explaining his experiences with being in the public eye through a series of blog posts， feels particularly immediate， possibly because I had just seen another modern day article attacking trans people this morning so the 'history' was very much part of the present。It's hard to pick out favourites from the book， but I'll have a go。 I found the format of the film script for "'The Twist'" highly effective in telling multiple narratives and showing the tension at play when cis people set about depicting trans people's lives， even when adapting an apparent memoir。 "Standards of Care" uses a more conventional diary format to tell an emotional and touching story of a trans woman from Norfolk finding community and "A Wo/Man of No Importance" stands out through the way it situates its characters amongst the famous figures of the 1890s， looking at ideas of how famed and not-so-famed history can collide。I had high expectations for Variations， but Jacques' use of the different formats for the stories and the way it follows broader narratives about trans life in Britain made it surpass those expectations。 Often I find short stories even leave me wishing they were longer or not engaged， but these ones felt like they were exactly what they needed to be。 It is the variations within it， as the title suggest， that bring the most joy: the multiplicity of voices explored through the characters and formats， and the different ideas and inspiration you can take from these。 。。。more
Tom
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so brilliant。 it reasserts the role of trans people through the last two centuries， from victorian london to today's nhs， this is inventive， funny， heartbreaking and so so important。 read！！ so brilliant。 it reasserts the role of trans people through the last two centuries， from victorian london to today's nhs， this is inventive， funny， heartbreaking and so so important。 read！！ 。。。more
Seymour Millen
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Variations is 11 semi-fictional accounts on a trans theme。 The stories themselves vary quite a bit， in form as well as content， as time passes: a series of letters， a diary， a blog， etc。 While they are presented roughly chronologically， there's a fun complexity as some chapters look back and forward through time， or traverse layers of reality （e。g。 a film script about a film production based on a semi-fictional biography）。 Jacques even manages to make an enjoyable yarn out of the dry format of a Variations is 11 semi-fictional accounts on a trans theme。 The stories themselves vary quite a bit， in form as well as content， as time passes: a series of letters， a diary， a blog， etc。 While they are presented roughly chronologically， there's a fun complexity as some chapters look back and forward through time， or traverse layers of reality （e。g。 a film script about a film production based on a semi-fictional biography）。 Jacques even manages to make an enjoyable yarn out of the dry format of an academic paper。 An interview with 1960s Liverpudlian drag queens is touching and exciting， even if the recollections 30 years later are a bit too precise to fit the format believably。 I also loved Sandy Payne's diary of going through transition in the late 70s， finding a few friends and cobbling together some contentment out of things。 Variations presents state repression and public transphobia no less than the joy of finding friends and a community， and presents that community with all its internal complexity and divisions。These stories are sometimes told by trans people themselves， sometimes by outside observers， sometimes many years later， submitted anonymously。 Who gets to speak is a question hanging over the whole book， from the Victorian playwright avoiding the censor， to the blog-writer attempting to challenge the transphobia of mainstream newspapers。 It'd be simple to present such stories as stepping stones to the present， when we live in the best of all possible worlds， but Variations is much more interesting than that。 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Variations
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Variations&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Variations&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0