Stag Dance

A Novel & Stories

By: Torrey Peters

Narrated by: Lee Osorio, Briggon Snow, Eileen Noonan, Pyrrha Nicole

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “This inventive, boundary-pushing follow-up to Detransition, Baby . . . [takes] on gender, transness and lives on the margins in all of their gorgeously complicated glory.”—People

“Hot, heartbreaking, and thrillingly victorious.”—Miranda July, New York Times bestselling author of All Fours

NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS’ CHOICE • LONGLISTED FOR THE STORY PRIZE • ONE OF VULTURE'S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, Elle, Electric Lit, them, Chicago Public Library

In this collection of one novel and three stories, bestselling author Torrey Peters’s keen eye for the rough edges of community and desire push the limits of trans writing.

In Stag Dance, the titular novel, a group of restless lumberjacks working in an illegal winter logging outfit plan a dance that some of them will volunteer to attend as women. When the broadest, strongest, plainest of the axmen announces his intention to dance as a woman, he finds himself caught in a strange rivalry with a pretty young jack, provoking a cascade of obsession, jealousy, and betrayal that will culminate on the big night in an astonishing vision of gender and transition.

Three startling stories surround Stag Dance: “Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones” imagines a gender apocalypse brought about by an unstable ex-girlfriend. In “The Chaser,” a secret romance between roommates at a Quaker boarding school brings out intrigue and cruelty. In the last story, “The Masker,” a party weekend on the Las Vegas strip turns dark when a young crossdresser must choose between two guides: a handsome mystery man who objectifies her in thrilling ways, or a cynical veteran trans woman offering unglamorous sisterhood.

Acidly funny and breathtaking in its scope, with the inventive audacity of George Saunders or Jennifer Egan, Stag Dance provokes, unsettles, and delights.

Cringy and Beautiful

I loved the variety of writing styles tailored to each story. Very creative, imaginative and fresh, yet deeply relatable on a human level. Listened to it all in one day.

Masterful storytelling

Torrey Peters is a masterful storyteller. All of the stories are dark, twisty and distinct, and will linger with you long after listening.

My only critique is that the audiobook reader of the first story appeared to have a lateral lisp which affected my reading experience. I had to keep rewinding to make sure I heard what was said. However, there is a different reader for each story and the other readers make up for it.

A must-read for sure!

Uncomfortable but in a good way

I try to stay away from reviews until I’m done with something and now that I’m done many reviews (here and other places) use the word Uncomfortable. I would agree with that. Well written and well narrated? Absolutely! Interesting, funny, heartbreaking and provocative? All those things. But also so original and yes uncomfortable. The humans in this story never fall into cliche and they run the gamet of all human experience. The last story especially where the protagonist is almost a blank canvas with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. Or is it one devil on each shoulder? Actually it’s a damaged, real, raw human on each shoulder, weighing our antagonist down with 2 tons of baggage.
So amazing!! Can’t wait to read more of the author’s work!!

This stung

Scathingly honest. It's refreshing to read about the dark sides of your culture, and we need to in order to explore who we are. This does the same for me as a trans woman as horror stories in general does for me as a woman, as a white person or as a european person of privilege ø.

The brilliant dialogue!

I loved the creativity and authenticity. Ms. Peters is such a talented author! I very much enjoyed this read!