The First Man-Made Man

In the 1920s, when Laura Dillon felt like a man trapped in a woman's body, there were no words to describe her condition; transsexual had yet to enter common usage. And there was no known solution to being stuck between the sexes. In a desperate bid to feel comfortable in her own skin, she experimented with breakthrough technologies that ultimately transformed the human body and revolutionized medicine. Michael Dillon's incredible story, from upper-class orphan girl to Buddhist monk, reveals the struggles of early transsexuals and challenges conventional notions of what gender really means.

Pagan Kennedy has published eight books. Her biography Black Livingstone was named a New York Times Notable Book. Her novel Spinsters was short-listed for the Orange Prize and was the winner of the Barnes & Noble Discover Award. She has written for the New York Times Magazine, Boston Globe Magazine, the Village Voice, Details, the Utne Reader, the Nation, and Ms. magazine. She lives in Massachusetts.