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Rating: Laura Jane Grace is the singer and guitarist of Against Me!, a punk band based in Florida, founded by the singer-songwriter herself at the age of 17.
Even though in 1997, at the time of the facts, Laura was still answering to the name Thomas Gabel.
Confused?
All normal, nothing that can't be explained by a psychiatric/psychological definition: gender dysphoria.
In other words, the condition of unease through which an individual disowns their sex and the gender assigned to them at birth.
This aspect, along with many others of Laura's life, is thoroughly explored in the autobiography finally available in our bookstores through Tsunami Edizioni, titled "Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock’s Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout."
Anyone who is a fan of Against Me! will certainly know the story of the frontwoman: the first signs of dysphoria at a young age, the complicated relationship with her father, and that equally difficult, as well as early, relationship with alcohol and drugs.
What was not possible to know until 2016 (the year of publication in the U.S.) are the confessions entrusted by Tom Gabel first, and then by Grace, to the years and pages of their respective diaries, whose frequent excerpts alternate with the narrative of their personal vicissitudes and that of the band.
An autobiography that counts for two, as many as the lives closely entwined since childhood; the continuous moves around the world from one military base to another due to her father's work, the parents' separation, an initial glimpse of adolescence lived on the margins of Florida's conservative society and the discovery of punk, life in communes, the first band and concerts in basements, the troubles with the law, and addictions leading up to the first taste of fame with Against Me!.
A true account of the anarcho-punk issue of the late '90s and the consequent ostracism by the DIY scene towards artists at their first flattery from the mainstream, an attitude anything but spared to Tom and company.
The memory digs deep into the heart of the recording industry and the universe of the majors with all the agents, lawyers, and the grueling routine of the tour-interview-photoshoot triangle, naturally spiced up with a generous mix of drugs and alcohol.
In short, nothing new compared to the historically well-known internal battle between the artist, their expressiveness, their poetics, their principles, their integrity on one side, and the compromises, the biting of the tongue, and the entrepreneurial reasoning that a career of a certain level imposes to a certain extent on the other.
Meanwhile, the issue of dysphoria lives and is represented through a path that physiologically follows the exact same stages of excitement, awareness, and denial and which, perhaps precisely for this reason, leads the reader to empathize with a character who otherwise would have little to offer beyond the usual clichés of the fragile-souled rock star engulfed by the mechanisms of showbiz.
There is no shortage of memories and anecdotes about some prominent names of the U.S. alternative scene, from Matt Skiba to Fat Mike, passing through Marilyn Manson.
The narrative style is the same that made Tom Gabel and Against Me! well known, sometimes capable of eliciting a smile in the face of such brazenness, sometimes capable of endearing, even making you want to hug Laura for her courage and stubbornness in pursuing the chimera of self-acceptance.
The juiciest part for fans, of course, will be found in the excerpts from Tom's diaries, where it won’t be difficult to recognize snippets of lyrics from Against Me! songs.
In essence, the reading offers a touching testimony of how one cannot conquer oneself and one's fears, how one cannot shine with their own light without first hitting rock bottom, knowing the dark corners of one's soul and conscience.
And at the same time, it provides a valuable perspective on an increasingly stigmatized theme by a progressive society only up to the point where it’s convenient to be so.
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