Memoir

In the Darkroom by Susan Faludi

Item: In the Darkroom
Author: Suzy Freeman-greene

by Suzy Freeman-Greene •

January–February 2017, no. 388

William Collins $32.99 pb, 417 pp, 9780008193508

Memoir

In the Darkroom by Susan Faludi

by Suzy Freeman-Greene •

January–February 2017, no. 388

The subject line of the email – from a father in Budapest to his daughter in Oregon – is ‘Changes’. ‘I’ve got some interesting news for you,’ writes Steven. ‘I have decided that I have had enough of impersonating a macho aggressive man that I have never been inside.’ Thus Susan Faludi, an author known for her books on feminism and the collapse of traditional masculinity, learns that her father has undergone sex reassignment surgery in Thailand. At seventy-six, Steven has become Stefánie.

Suzy Freeman-Greene

By this contributor

Suzy Freeman-Greene is the Arts and Culture editor of The Conversation. For many years she wrote a regular opinion column for The Age, where she was also a features and arts editor and feature writer. Her essays, critical writing and fiction have been published widely in places such as Meanjin, Island, and Good Weekend.