Trans-formations
Published 06/02/2011
by Jim Piechota
http://www.ebar.com/arts/art_article.php?sec=books&article=633Nina Here Nor There by Nick Krieger; Beacon Press, $15
New York native turned San Franciscan Nick Krieger offers an edifying, passionate memoir detailing his gender odyssey from female to male, surrounded by close friends, family, and a life rich with newfound possibility.
His journey in Nina Here Nor There begins as "Nina" Krieger, a biological female comfortably ensconced in a lively circle of athletic lesbian friends and upper-crust "A gays." She's given up playing soccer to write website content and reflect on her many nomadic travels "backpacking in Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, bicycling from Canada to Mexico." In other friendly circles, Krieger notices the increasing frequency of parties thrown as fundraisers for female-to-male transgender "top-surgery" for "genderqueer" acquaintances who had embarked on their own life-altering transformations. Soon enough, Nina begins to question her own contentment with a female physical body, becoming at odds with issues of gender, and realizing that her large, 36-C breasts simply aren't in sync with the masculine persona she has always strived for.
