{"id":44,"date":"2010-01-12T12:32:03","date_gmt":"2010-01-12T18:32:03","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-05-03T18:15:08","modified_gmt":"2011-05-03T23:15:08","slug":"the_nearest_exit_may_be_behind_you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/the_nearest_exit_may_be_behind_you\/","title":{"rendered":"The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"bloglink\"><a href=\"http:\/\/worldcat.org\/oclc\/318877306\">Bergman, S. Bear. <em>The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You.<\/em> Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2009. 205p. $18.95. ISBN: 9781551522647.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"bloglink\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft\" style=\"padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; border: 0pt none initial;\" title=\"the nearest exit may be behind you\" src=\"http:\/\/coverart.oclc.org\/ImageWebSvc\/oclc\/+-+1582233685837_140.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"140\" height=\"204\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Every week is full of tiny gender moments, little queer vignettes, these rich and telling interactions that give me an endless running commentary about what the world sees in me. . . (It Only Takes a Minute I, 43)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You<\/em> is S. Bear Bergman&#8217;s second book, and if it is possible, Bergman has delved even further into the many facets and richness of gender identity, inside and outside LGBTQ communities. The same candid self-awareness, sensitivity, and self-deprecating wit found in <em>Butch Is a Noun<\/em> is here in even larger quantities.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Nearest Exit<\/em> ranges from short, humorous observances of day-to-day gender insight in the series <em>It Only Takes a Minute I-IV,<\/em> to longer, more exploratory essays examining the complexity of gender and identity, such as <em>The Velveteen Tranny,<\/em> and <em>I&#8217;m Just Saying.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In very personal narratives, Bergman questions gender norms, expectations, and uncomfortable subjects within the LGBTQ community. In <em>Just a Phase,<\/em> Bergman examines hir own process of coming out, multiple times, within the community, and to hirself in regards to sexuality and gender identity, which shines light on Bergman&#8217;s life when writing <em>Butch Is a Noun.<\/em> This struggle is also highlighted in the painful and validating essay &#8220;Shame,&#8221; as well as the uplifting speech given by Bergman on the Transgender Day of Remembrance in 2008.<\/p>\n<p>By taking the time to look at life&#8217;s small details, we are gently brought to the larger stories of our families and communities, Western culture and custom (see <em>Dutiful Grandchild<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p><em>The Nearest Exit<\/em> contains a small amount of sexual explicitness, but it puts complex ideas in an accessible format. It is recommended for academic and public libraries.<\/p>\n<p><em>Reviewed by, <strong>Jesse Nachem<\/strong><br \/>\nAssistant Archivist, Lucasfilm Ltd.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bergman, S. Bear. The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2009. 205p. $18.95. ISBN: 9781551522647. Every week is full of tiny gender moments, little queer vignettes, these rich and telling interactions that give me an endless running commentary about what the world sees in me. . . (It Only Takes a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1167,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[27,42,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1167"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}