For Today I Am a Boy

For Today I Am a Boy is a novel written by Kim Fu, published in 2014 by Harper Collins. It follows the life of Peter Huang, a young transgender Chinese child, throughout Peter's childhood and adolescence in Fort Michel, Ontario, and adulthood and transformation in Montreal, Quebec. The novel is named after the Antony and the Johnsons' song of the same title.

Plot

Peter Huang is born in Fort Michel, Ontario, the only male child of Chinese immigrant parents. Playing with his three sisters, Adele, Helen, and Bonnie, he understands early on that he is a girl and aspires to embody the femininity his sisters are easily allowed. He struggles in his relationship with his father, a dictatorial, patriarchal man who is committed to eradicating his family's Chinese heritage and shaping Peter into an ideal Western man.[1][2]

At age 18, Peter moves away from home and to Montreal, where he works in restaurants and leads a lonely life. He has affairs with two older women, the first an abusive mother of a casual friend, and the second a Christian evangelist trying to purge herself of lesbianism.[3]

Reception

For Today I Am a Boy received several accolades and critical praise. The book was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award and winner of the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction. It was also a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice and was longlisted for Canada Reads.[4] The Globe and Mail praised Fu's depth of character development for minor characters, writing "Fu’s eye for the tribulations of the jocular bully, Chef, and other supporting characters is perhaps her greatest strength." [3] She also received praise for her care in telling the story of an immigrant family with a transgender child. The National Post writes, "In lesser hands, For Today I Am A Boy could easily veer into the didactic, a catalogue of Valuable Lessons and thinly veiled disdain for old ways of gender, of culture, of family. But it’s not. It’s just that everything is hard for everyone through the entire book, in a way that is somehow not exhausting but fascinating."[1]

References

  1. 1 2 S. Bear Bergman (January 24, 2014). "For Today I Am A Boy, by Kim Fu: Review". National Post. Retrieved 2015-05-14.
  2. ↑ "Boy Trouble : 'For Today I Am a Boy,' by Kim Fu". The New York Times. January 31, 2014. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
  3. 1 2 Trilby Kent (January 31, 2014). "For Today I Am a Boy: A novel through the story of a transgender Chinese-Canadian child". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2015-05-14.
  4. ↑ "Bio | Kim Fu, Writer". Kimfu.ca. Retrieved 2015-05-14.
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