Ponyboy

A Novel

De: Eliot Duncan

Narrado por: T.L. Thompson

An evocative debut novel of trans-masculinity, addiction, and the pain and joy of becoming.

Ponyboy unravels in his Paris apartment. Cut to the bar. Cut to the back room. Ponyboy is strung out and struggling. He is falling into the widening chasm between who he is—trans, electrically so—and the blank canvas his girlfriend, Baby, wants him to be.

Cut to Berlin. Ponyboy sinks deeper into drugs and falls for Gabriel, all the while pursued by a photographer hungry for the next hot thing. As his relationships crumble, he overdoses.

Cut to open sky. In a rehab back home in Iowa, Ponyboy is his mother’s son. In precise, atmospheric prose, Eliot Duncan’s debut novel lays bare the innate splendor, joy, and ache of becoming one’s self.

©2023 Eliot Duncan (P)2023 Bonnier Books UK

Different. Ends abruptly.

I liked it. It was, different. This is not your typical story structure or storyline. Kind of all over the place, especially in the beginning but I think that reflects the state of mind of the drugged up main character. There are a lot of literary references, which are cool if you’re into that but could be confusing if you aren’t. There are entire conversations in French and German at times, which could be confusing if you don’t know at least a little of the language. The main character’s relationship with gender and gender expression is one we don’t often see depicted in trans narratives. A genderbending femboy style that he acknowledges isn’t usually understood by others as what it is given how he is perceived. There also seem to be times especially near the end when he is just wearing girl clothes to appease his family. This feels like the story of someone in early transition and I was reminded of my own experiences and the allowances I made in the beginning when I wasn’t passing as well. The juxtaposition of rural Midwest with European culture is a strange one and it left me wondering how the hell this character and his family have these ties to Europe. My final thought is just that the story ends very abruptly and unexpectedly. There is little resolution. You are left feeling the main character is on shaky footing at best with his addition. The end of the book really is more the start of the character’s next chapter of transition. He names himself and the story ends. What comes next is left up to the reader but it ends on a positive note. Overall, I liked the book and would read more by this author.