Paper Doll: Notes from a Late Bloomer

first and foremost, we love to see a trans woman win. and even if she stumbles, good god does dylan stumble, we can celebrate the little wins too. dylan has an earnestness that cynics could never fathom being authentic—even she acknowledges this. but her earnestness is part of an active choice to be joyful, kind, and live in the fantasy she's been crafting since she was a baby watching stage shows. her fantasy at times is extremely out of touch with reality and that's okay, but it does mean longwinded narratives on ayahuasca trips at peruvian retreats and celebrity billionaire partying are part of her narrative whether it's consumable to the reader or not. there's power in that level of candid story telling. what dylan chooses to share or not has been a big part of her girlhood and womanhood story and that is reflected in her memoir. her best moments literarily speaking are often her hardest to have lived through or her solidarity with the dolls because that's when she's the most introspective about herself.