A Queer and Pleasant Danger

The true story of a nice Jewish boy who joins the Church of Scientology, and leaves twelve years later to become the lovely lady she is today

By: Kate Bornstein

Narrated by: Kate Bornstein

The inspiring true story of a nice Jewish boy who left the Church of Scientology to become the lovely lady she is today.

In the early 1970s, a boy from a Conservative Jewish family joined the Church of Scientology. In 1981, that boy officially left the movement and ultimately transitioned into a woman. A few years later, she stopped calling herself a woman—and became a famous gender outlaw.

Gender theorist, performance artist, and author Kate Bornstein is set to change lives with her stunningly original memoir. Wickedly funny and disarmingly honest, this is Bornstein's most intimate book yet, encompassing her early childhood and adolescence, college at Brown, a life in the theater, three marriages and fatherhood, the Scientology hierarchy, transsexual life, LGBTQ politics, and life on the road as a sought-after speaker.

The audiobook includes a new epilogue. Reflecting on the original publication of her book, Bornstein considers the passage of time as the changing world brings new queer realities into focus and forces Kate to confront her own aging and its effects on her health, body, and mind. She goes on to contemplate her relationship with her daughter, her relationship to Scientology, and the ever-evolving practices of seeking queer selfhood.

The cutest girl

Its hard to quantify the experience of being in a cult as an other. I was raised in Scientology. It filled my head with nonsense that I’m still trying to untangle. My parents are the same age as Kate and my brothers are still in the cult and me and my sister who are nonbinary/autistic and transgender woman respectively are out. Scientology destroys souls and families. I wish I could identify with my parents the way I do with this author. I wish she could have been my parent. My whole life and working career have been in and around Scientologists and the higher you get the more stubborn, know it all, and heartless you become. God bless all the freaks on the sidelines with expansive, forgiving and loving souls like Kate.

Wonderful

I truly enjoyed this book and appreciated Kate’s honesty and openness. The depth of emotion is so prevalent throughout the entire book. Wonderful.
. . . And Jessica, I hope someday you’ll find it in your heart to give your dad a chance. You can hear the profound love she has for you in her voice. We should all be so lucky to be loved so deeply.

Excellent book.