May 2000 | Out in the Mountains |31 Voices from the Margins A Review of Chris Bohio|icm’s|oiesi novel, TRANS-SISTER RADIO BY BARBARA DOZETOS Chris Bohjalian interviewed three transsexual surgeons as he gath- ered information for his novel, Trans-Sister Radio, but not all of them. He wanted to leave one person out of the research. so he would have someone who could read the manuscript and potentially tear it apart “with surgical precision,” he says. He sent the manuscript off to Dr. Sheila Kirk, who had agreed to read it for him, and waited for the post-operative consultation. When she called a month later, the doctor did indeed have surgery on her mind, but the patient was not the book manuscript. “She assured me that she was not offended,” Bohjalian says, “but wanted to know why she was not scheduled to do my surgery.” Realizing that Dr. Kirk assumed that he intended to have sexual reas- signment surgery, the 39-year-old former advertising account executive assured her that he was not in the market for a surgeon. Dr. Kirk apologized, saying that she knew Bohjalian used to live as a man, because she had seen the photo on the jacket of Midwives, the novel Oprah Winfrey helped bring to national attention by selecting it for her book club. “When I told her that I had no plans for sexual reassignment surgery and was not a transsexual,” Bohjalian remembers, “She said, ‘Well, you’ve clearly been in the bedroom with one.”’ (For the record, he insists that his research, though extensive, was not comprehensive.) Bohjalian, his wife, photographer Victoria Blewer, and their daugh- _ ter Grace live in a postcard—worthy 100-year old house in the center of :_ A in, t-405351» Lincoln, VT. Life for the novelistlrevolves around his routine of early- I morning writing, breakfast with Grace before she leaves for school, and being home to meet the school bus when it drops her off every after- noon. “I’m absolutely compulsive,” says the self-described ‘neat freak.’ Should one paper be out of place in his library, he finds it impossible to write. His alphabetized and categorized books include an impressive collection of Vermont authors and books he’s used in research for his novels. He’s well known for his weekly columns in the Burlington Free I Press depicting familiar scenes of daily life in small-town Vermont. Tackling his furnace problems and cleaning out the attic are typical fod- der for the stories he tells each Sunday. However, when it comes to fiction, Bohjalian has found his niche far from what most people consider typical. The margins of society pro- vide the backdrop for his four most recent novels, and he intends to continue writing outside the boundaries for the foreseeable future. He ignores the advice of writers who insist you should write what you know. “Write what you are fascinated by,” he says. “I write what I’m passionate abou .” “The margins are pressing against the mainstream society, and there- in lies the conflicts that drive my writing,” says Bohjalian. In the 1995 novel Water Witches, it was the environment versus development. In 1997’s Midwives it was home birth taking on obstetrical delivery. With Law of Similars, released in 1999, it was alternative versus traditional medicine. Trans-Sister Radio, due in stores on May 9, tackles what its author calls “gender and all the baggage tied to it.” The idea for the novel came from two separate conversations with the same friend of Bohjalian’s. Several years ago, this friend and her boyfriend were expected for a visit at the house in Lincoln. Instead, the woman arrived alone and distraught. Her boyfriend had just days before informed her that he was planning to have sexual reassignment surgery. photo: Barbara Dozetos Chris Bohjaian with his latest novel $§§§"€§?§§§Efi 3%? ?§§§ 32