Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man

Thomas Page McBee

Amateur was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction, the Lambda Literary Award, and the Wellcome Book Prize, and was named one of The Times UK's Best Memoirs of 2018, BuzzFeed's Best Nonfiction of 2018, Autostraddle's Best LGBT Books of 2018, and 52 Insight's Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2018. Thomas McBee, a trans man, sets out to uncover what makes a man—and what being a "good" man even means—through his experience training for and fighting in a charity boxing match at Madison Square Garden. A self-described "amateur" at masculinity, McBee embarks on a wide-ranging exploration of gender in society, examining sexism, toxic masculinity, and privilege. As he questions the limitations of gender roles and the roots of masculine aggression, he finds intimacy, hope, and even love in the experience of boxing and in his role as a man in the world. Through interviews with experts in neuroscience, sociology, and critical race theory, he constructs a deft and thoughtful examination of the role of men in contemporary society.