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Pageboy
288 pages
An intimate, winding journey through the suffocating pressures of fame toward the defiant joy of queer and trans self-discovery.
What it feels like
Reading this memoir feels like sitting in the heavy, hot summer air of a profound personal awakening. The narrative unfolds at a steady, winding pace, pulling the reader through the suffocating nightmare of Hollywood expectations and the crushing weight of societal binaries. It is a deeply intimate experience, steeped in a mood that shifts from the claustrophobia of repression to the triumphant relief of self-discovery. The beautifully written prose offers a vulnerable interrogation of sex, love, and trauma, never shying away from the abuse and criticism faced along the way. Ultimately, it delights readers looking for a defiant, joyful ode to untangling oneself from the expectations of others and stepping fully into who they truly are.
- Mood
- heavy
- suffocating
- triumphant
- joyful
- Tone
- intimate
- vulnerable
- defiant
- reflective
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- queer and trans self-discovery · the weight of expectations · Hollywood pressure · overcoming repression · embracing authentic identity
- The writing
- Beautifully written and deeply intimate, offering a vulnerable window into personal trauma and triumph.
- The arc
- Moves from the suffocating nightmare of repression and external expectations to a defiant, joyful embrace of true identity.
- Who it's for
- Readers seeking a vulnerable, behind-the-scenes memoir about navigating queer identity and the crushing weight of fame.
Content notes
- trauma
- abuse
- repression
- forced gender binaries
About the book
“Can I kiss you?” It was two months before the world premiere of Juno, and Elliot Page was in his first ever queer bar. The hot summer air hung heavy around him as he looked at her. And then it happened. In front of everyone. A previously unfathomable experience. Here he was on the precipice of discovering himself as a queer person, as a trans person. Getting closer to his desires, his dreams, himself, without the repression he’d carried for so long. But for Elliot, two steps forward had always come with one step back.
With Juno’s massive success, Elliot became one of the world’s most beloved actors. His dreams were coming true, but the pressure to perform suffocated him. He was forced to play the part of the glossy young starlet, a role that made his skin crawl, on and off set. The career that had been an escape out of his reality and into a world of imagination was suddenly a nightmare.
As he navigated criticism and abuse from some of the most powerful people in Hollywood, a past that snapped at his heels, and a society dead set on forcing him into a binary, Elliot often stayed silent, unsure of what to do, until enough was enough. Full of behind the scenes details and intimate interrogations on sex, love, trauma, and Hollywood, Pageboy is the story of a life pushed to the brink. But at its core, this beautifully written, winding journey of what it means to untangle ourselves from the expectations of others is an ode to stepping into who we truly are with defiance, strength, and joy. --Book Flap
Description from Open Library.
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