books on crossdressing

[Daphne Renee]

I am shopping online today.. at amazon I run across these two books

My Husband Wears my clothes and Crossdressing with Dignity
Has anyone read these books? if so what did you think about them.
Are there other related books you would recommend?

[vivian fair]

I have read both books. And I do recomend both. Easy to read,understand. really like home spun.

[Rachel Flowers]

Hi Candy

I haven't read either of those. If you get them, do post a review!

I've read
"Alice in Genderland" autobiography of a Bi CD who is married with kids and also has a regular exclusive boyfriend; and
"My Husband Betty" by a wife, who does a very good job of researching and presenting the impact of CDing on relationships of many couples she's met - including herself and Betty - and an even better job of sharing with us her fear, worry and sometimes anger at Betty's behaviour and self-delusion. You know, the stuff we call the "pink fog" on here.

When Mrs Flowers read "Betty" she couldn't put it down and sent me lovely supporting messages in work all day. She wasn't terribly impressed by "Alice" but perhaps she is worried I will want to go out and get a boyfriend...!

[Vickie_CDTV]

Both My Husband Wears my clothes and Crossdressing with Dignity are excellent books, especially for wives. They are factual and written from the perspective of a GG SO. Out of all the books out there those are the ones I would recommend giving to an SO as an introduction; I would worry some of the others mentioned here would scare an SO more than anything (telling them their husband might be bi when it is not the case and so on.)

If you look on YouTube, there is a fantastic show that appeared on the We network that featured the author and her husband (Mel and Peggy Rudd.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-1c5LPilzA&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

[Karren H]

I loved "Miss Vera's Crossdress for Success" (a resource for boys who want to be girls"). and "The Lazy crossdresser". Both good books for the beginner. Also a good TG book is "The Lady Chablis - Hiding My Candy".

[Suzy Parker]

Coping with crossdressing is a good one.

[JenniferR771]

My husband... is excellent. And...the husband is a member here: Melanie.
Both of these Peggy Rudd's books are good places to start. And finish. My counselor borrowed them--he still has them. I guess that is a recommendatio --of sorts.

[AndreaCD1963]

I'm currently about 65% through "She's Not The Man I Married" - the sequel to "My Husband Betty" by Helen Boyd (which I haven't read - yet). I'm finding it to be quite interesting, a somewhat different perspective from the point of view of Betty's wife, who considers herself to also be somewhat gender-different. I would have read the first one first had I been able to get it for Kindle up here north of the 49th parallel :-)

[Daphne Renee]

Thanks for the responses. I plan on getting some of those books. I dont have a kindle so I guess I will just have to go the old fashioned way and buy the books. :)

[Just Elizabeth]

My Husband Betty was the first exposure I had to crossdressing after my SO told me about himself. I must say it freaked me out and still does to this day. But then I'm only about 6 months into this whole thing. Her tortured emotions, fears, anxieties, doubts.. all closely matched what I was feeling. Yes, I gritted my teeth and read the whole book. I needed the information. But it frankly scared the s**t out of me. And her husband doesn't CD for the same reasons my SO does. She is also considering transitioning, last I heard, and that is something my SO has said doesn't interest him.

And now I've come to realize that each CD'er does it for her/his own reasons. And each is different. And each SO is different in their level of acceptance and/or participation. So I figure I just have to find my own way, and anything I read, no matter how well written or researched or thought out is just one person's opinion. However scary or calming I may find it.

YMMV.

Hope this helps.

Just Elizabeth.

[Mindy More]

I'm not much for books myself. If I get any books to read I get them from the Library. I started "the lazy Crossdresser", and "She's not the Man I married" I didn't get to finish either nor did I get very far. My reason for not liking reading is I'm just a slow reader, with a little ADD. I realized that "she's not the man I married" was the sequel and I really wanted to read "my husband betty" So I ended up getting MHB from the library. I'm liking it so far and hope that my wife will get a chance to read it. Hopefully I'll find more time to read the whole thing.

[Anna Talyn]

So far I have only read the Lazy Crossdresser.
I just bought My Gender Workbook: How to Become a Real Man, a Real Woman, the Real You, or Something Else Entirely by Kate Bornstein.
It looks very interesting but have not dug into it yet.
I plan to read my husband Betty next.

[kimdl93]

How about CDr that is a serial killer, but strictly adheres to a code of ethics and only preys on other murderers? Maybe Dexter could become Denise?

Well, if not that, how about a variation on the self help guru's.... "I'm OK, I Love Your Outfit", or The Seven Essenstials of Successful CDrs, or "Money Dressing"...that last one was a stretch!

[Karren H]

I'm afraid that anything with any kind of reality to it would be boring as hell but would have more photos than words! Lol.

[April_Ligeia]

I really loved Gender Outlaw by Kate Bornstein, although she is transexual so it is not strictly speaking a book about crossdressing.

[LeaP]

Maybe Dexter could become Denise?

ROFL! That was hilarious! And use a heel instead of a knife?

Lea

[JessHaust]

I want to see the one I'm writing published!

[JessHaust]

Alice in Genderland is good as well.

[prettytoes]

I have both My Husband Wears My Clothes and My Husband Betty. Both were good, but My Husband Wears My Clothes seemed to hit home a little better for me. Some parts of it brought me to tears. My wife also read both...they really helped her understand what was going on a little better.

[suchacutie]

I'm partial to JoAnn Roberts' book "Art & Illusion, Vol 1-3 (updated and revised) (2004). This is not a reference to the philosophy or emotion of crossdressing, but it is a detailed "how to" from soup to nuts. I thought it was a great place to start!

tina

[Beth Mays]

Seems I have read all the books in these post except for the "Art and Illusions".. every single one seems to have some points that hit home and some that are way off as well. Seems everyone here shares a common thread (crossdressing) but the reasons, extent, motivations, feelings on and on may be very different.
I really enjoy the book "Alice In Genderland" not that I related much but more as a true account from the prospective of someone that had a very difficult struggle.
I prefer to read more than most guys, TV simply does not interest me that much, especially now that football season is over.


Beth

[Jennifer B]

I think you would have to have something where the crossdressing was key to developing the plot. A thriller perhaps, involving Jake / Sarah.

Jake works in legal office in New York, one Friday evening he is invited by David a co-worker to join him and a few friends for a quick drink after work. The quick drink turns into a session and three of the group decide to carry on to a wild new nightclub, a sort of Studio 54 set-up. Jake goes along with it as one of David's friends they are with Steve, knows the doorman and can get them in straight away. Once in the club the shots flow and the David peels off into a corner with another man, who he then leaves with. Jake is not surprised but is when Steve makes a pass on him, Jake rebuffs his advances. Steve apologises saying that he assumed Jake was gay as.. well.. after all.. David had told him all about the fact that Jake had confined in David at work that he was a crossdresser, he knows about Jakes secret and assumed that... well... you know!
Feeling betrayed by David, Jake kicks off and an argument ensues about stereotypical bigotry. When Steve calls Jake a bitch they eventually realise how drunk and idiotic they are both being and they crack up laughing. Steve apologises and they hug as Jake says "Steve. I'm just not that kind of a Girl." He then gives him an ironic kiss on the head and goes home exhausted.

It's the weekend and Jake has put the previous night out of his head, he gets a call from one of his girlfriends and heads out en-femme as Sarah with another crossdresser who is transitioning and two GG's, they hook up with another two over excitable GG's that as the evening wears on, convince the others to visit the new club, that Jake, David and Steve had been to the previous evening. Sarah is weary but gets dragged along. It turns out to be really hard to get into the club as many people are rudely turned away, whilst all the pretty GG's are herded in. Sarah wonders how they managed to get in so easily the previous evening. Then thinks about Steve's comment about knowing the door man. This is forgotten as to Sarah's great surprise she and the other girls are swiftly let in. The same door man does not recognise Sarah as being Jake at all.

In the night club as the drinks flow the girls are propositioned by some men to go up to the "office". They decline. When they come to leave one of the girls, Jilly, is missing. This is not unusual. So they leave her a voice-mail to say "hope whoever you're stradlin is worth it honey!" and leave.

The next day one of the GG's phones Jake distraught. The girl they lost the previous night is in hospital in a coma. At the hospital they both can see that she has been viciously beaten. Jake goes back to the club to find out what happened. The door man recognises him immediately and wont let him in even though it's quiet and he previously did not recognise Jake as Sarah.

Monday morning and a weary and numb Jake recognises a photo of Steve's face on the news channel whilst waiting for the tube train, and discovers that Steve has been found dead in the Hudson river. Last seen Friday night, he never returned to his apartment over the weekend. It suddenly becomes clear to Jake why the doorman at the club wouldn’t let Jake in on the Sunday morning after Jilly had been attacked. It wasn't because he was with the girls as Sarah, it was because he was with Steve who knew the doorman on the Friday night. Clearly he must be involved in what happened to Steve and thus turned him away.

Whatever happened to Steve and Jilly is tied up in the dealings of the clubs owners. Whilst Jake is pondering this he is called into a meeting to address a new legal client for the law firms business. As the meeting begins Jake discovers to his horror that their client is the owner of the club, who has come to gain legal defence for the incident involving Jilly. An angry Jake confronts the client about Steve’s death. He is quickly pulled aside by his manager though, who asks him what the hell he is playing at. David has already told the police that he left the club that night with Steve after Jake himself had left. So nothing happened to Steve at the club. In the meantime David has been put on two months leave to deal with the death of his lover Steve and has returned to his mothers home out west in Seattle. Jake is stunned into silence and sits out the meeting with a growing fear as he tries to understand what has happened and who is lying to who.

With the firm he works for now representing the owner of the club that he suspects of being responsible for both Steve’s death and Jilly's assault. He must go to Seattle and find out why David is lying, how Steve had come to know the doorman at the club and what Jilly had discovered that resulted in her brutal assault.

He is suddenly terrified of the thought that the owner of the club may know that Jake is aware of the lies told about Steve by David, because of the doorman's recognition of him. He realises that his time to act is limited, as his life is now in danger as well. He realises that his only escape is to disappear. But he also knows that without hte support of the firm or the Police, he needs to get back into the club and find out what happened to Steve and Jilly himself. The only way he can disappear and stay in the same area out in the open, and the only way to get back into the club unrecognised, and to find out what's happened on those two nights, and to stay out off danger whilst doing so. Is as a person that none of his work colleagues or family know about, a person who is only known to his closest friends and is often hidden from view, in plain sight. Sarah.

There you go, the cross dressing is part of the plot. Whoot!

[Jennifer B]

I just realised how long that post was. Got carried away. Sorry. Should have realised when trying to post it timed out and had to log in allover. Eeek!

[DianeDeBris]

I've read everything mentioned here except "Art and Illusion," which I'm sending for tomorrow. The very best books on crossdressing I've read to date are "Out and About: The Emancipated Crossdresser," and
"7 Secrets of Successful Crossdressing," both by Lacey Leigh. I've reread each several times over. I strongy endorse them to every CD and to the SO of every CD.
Hugs -- Diane

[sometimes_miss]

There have already been a bunch of books and videos about guys trying to date girls, and then wind up being sort of 'just friends' with the girl who helps him be the girl he really likes being. I read/watch whenever I can. It's nice to dream that it might happen.

[Ineke Vashon]

I read Helen Boyd's "My Husband Betty" to learn about cross dressing. Instead I learned a lot about the female mind instead.

There is an interesting interview with Helen and Betty on Dr. Keith - check YouTube "Helen and Betty Interview part 1 and part 2. A few questions and answers are hilarious.

Ineke