Nevada (2013)-Imogen Binnie
If you’re into deeply flawed characters you may enjoy this book
Content Warnings: dysphoria, internalized transphobia, drug use, alcohol abuse, housing insecurity, lgbtq slur, mild sexual content,
Representation: trans woman, trans man, lesbian
Favorite Quote: “Eventually you can’t help but figure out that, while gender is a construct, so is a traffic light, and if you ignore either of them, you get hit by cars. Which, also, are constructs.”
Nevada is an unconventional realistic fiction novel regarded as one of the cornerstones of trans literature. Written in 2013, this book was one of the first books featuring a trans main character to break into something of the mainstream. The book follows two highly flawed main characters and follows their somewhat unstructured narratives to explore topics such as identity, privilege, and belonging.
The first part of the novel focuses on Maria, a trans, punk lesbian woman who’s remained at a job she’s indifferent to for the past six years and a relationship she’s equally indifferent to for the past four years. Spurred by a confession by her girlfriend, Maria comes to a revelation about what it is that she needs for herself. The couple breaks up and Maria comes to the decision to spontaneously drive out of the city she’s spent her young adulthood and finds herself across the country.
In the second half of the novel, Maria meets a young adult names James H. while he’s working at Walmart. The moment Maria sees him, she immediately clocks this young stoner kid as someone who is questioning his gender and takes it upon herself to mentor him. James H., who may or may not be trans, however, has come to his own conclusions about his identity that, no matter how harmful, are not so easily erased.
Both main characters are deeply flawed and nihilistic. “Whatever” is easily one of the most repeated words in the novel. Neither has much direction in their lives and sometimes two brains are not better than one. This leaves the novel’s conclusion just as vague and unconventional as the rest of the book. This is something that may be highly valued by readers or found to be deeply annoying.
Nevada should be recognized as a trailblazing own voices story, but it is not the end all be all of trans literature. Much discussion about transness and identity is integrated through the character Maria, but it also includes takes on transmasc and genderqueer identities that are deeply problematic, divisive, and minimizing, making the authority this book has been granted concerning.