The Queen of Whale Cay: The Eccentric Story of 'Joe' Carstairs, Fastest Woman on Water (Paperback) by Kate Summerscale

from etxgardener

This was one of those great finds that I sometimes unearth at the dollar store - the story of "Joe" Carstairs, a wealthy transgender who became famous for racing speedboats and later, buying her own private island in the Bahamas where she constructed her own society living openly with other women...

from SaraAnn05

This would have made an interesting news article, but I felt that the book stretched the story too far. "Joe" Carstairs is essentially unknowable, because she never really let anyone close enough to know her. And from this book she seemed to me afraid to know herself too deeply. She really stuck ...

from satyridae

I liked the subject of this biography so much that I was almost able to ignore the writing. It was patchy, jumpy, and odd. There were bits that made me roll my eyes, and bits that made me hiss- mostly assumptions on the part of the author. I'd like to read an in-depth biography of Carstairs by a ...

from drmarymccormack

I read this book when it first came out, so it's been awhile. I can say for certain that it made an impression on me! This lady was BIZARRE, not in a really creepy way but in a kind of cool way. I love reading about people who have enough money to indulge an eccentric whim. I love the doll thing-...