Kindle
$16.99Read with Our Free App
Audiobook$14.95
Hardcover
$28.41
19 New from $28.41
Paperback
$22.00
13 New from $22.00
Audio CD
$41.37
6 New from $41.37
=====
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
"Eloquent and enthralling..." --Washington Post
"The emergence of our true selves is all of our life's work. Pageboy helps chart the course." --Jamie Lee Curtis
"Searing, deeply moving, and incredibly poignant... This isn't simply a book on what it means to be trans, it's about what it means to be human." --Alok Vaid-Menon
NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK by Salon, The Week, Elle, Bustle, and more.
Full of intimate stories, from chasing down secret love affairs to battling body image and struggling with familial strife, Pageboy is a love letter to the power of being seen. With this evocative and lyrical debut, Oscar-nominated star Elliot Page captures the universal human experience of searching for ourselves and our place in this complicated world.
"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.
The Oscar-nominated star who captivated the world with his performance in Juno finally shares his story in a groundbreaking and inspiring memoir about love, family, fame -- and stepping into who we truly are with strength, joy and connection.
====
Length 288
2023
What are popular highlights?
There are an infinite number of ways to be queer and trans, and my story speaks to only one.
Highlighted by 238 Kindle readers
Why do we lose that ability? To create a whole world? A bunk bed was a kingdom, I was a boy.
Highlighted by 228 Kindle readers
Two steps forward, one step back. I’ve spent much of my life chipping away toward the truth, while terrified to cause a collapse.
Highlighted by 127 Kindle readers
==============
Product description
Review
"Eloquent and enthralling....[Pageboy] is an intense, emotional read, delivered in image-drenched prose. "'Let me just exist with you, ' he writes, 'happier than ever.' Reading those words nearly made me cry. Page's plea is small. It also feels very big."
--Washington Post
"Powerful"
--New York Times Book Review
"Raw, harrowing and often heartbreaking to read... Page's book arrives, as if on cue, in a moment when the trans community is facing even more danger than when he started writing it just over a year ago."
--LA Times
"Pageboy is like listening to a friend... It's impossible to miss the truth in his words: 'I wouldn't be typing this right now if it weren't for you and your care.' ... Now is an excellent time to read this humanizing and well-written memoir."
--Associated Press
"The emergence of our true selves is all of our life's work. Pageboy helps chart the course."
--Jamie Lee Curtis
"Searing, deeply moving, and incredibly poignant... This isn't simply a book on what it means to be trans, it's about what it means to be human."
=====
Top review from Australia
Chad
5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely brilliantReviewed in Australia on 6 June 2023
Verified Purchase
Elliot Page’s memoir is a beautiful but at times heartbreaking story of their journey of self discovery and becoming their authentic self.
It reads like a conversation with a friend. It’s real, candid, raw, genuine and doesn’t pretend to be anything it’s not. In doing so, it makes Pageboy some a terrific moving read.
Whether Elliot intended to or not he’s written a book, that without a doubt, he, including myself and many other queer people could have done with growing up.
HelpfulReport
See more reviews
Top reviews from other countries
H. Williams
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting to read but maybe a little hollow as a memoirReviewed in the United States on 19 September 2023
Verified Purchase
It’s interesting when young-ish people write memoirs. This is one of those memoirs in which I liked the ideas and appreciated what Elliot had to say, but I wish he’d have waited a few years so there was a little more depth to it.
One the one hand, we think of Hollywood as a bastion of liberalism, but Elliot talks about the homophobia that drives much of the deal-making in Tinsel Town. We also see the lovely well-put-together stars in movies and doing press junkets, but he also reveals the messy lives that many stars hide when not on the red carpet.
He also highlights the projects that never quite take off and his search for novelty that many actors pursue in new movies, new roles, and new relationships.
This is not an autobiography, it’s a memoir, so it’s not linear, and it bounces between periods and events. This makes it the memoir interesting but I lost track of a few of the people who appear once for a specific event, those who appear again later to make a point, and those who (surprisingly) never re-appear.
I responded to his statement that “It shocked me that I had asked for what I needed.” I think that lots of us good gay boys are used to accepting less than we should, less than optimal situations, rather than explaining what we need to thrive.
I also found “Pageboy” to be humorless and even dour. I think a little humor could have made this memoir more approachable and give Elliot a wider range of character.
(On a personal note, while discussing this book with others, it was difficult to keep from misgendering Elliot since I still often think of him as a woman in “Juno” and other films. Elliot wrote this book.)
Read less
One person found this helpfulReport
darrenphillipsuk
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent bookReviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 September 2023
Verified Purchase
I have been very pro Trans for some time. This autobiography is an eye opener on the struggles of both Hollywood and gender disphoria. An excellent read.
Report
Timothy
5.0 out of 5 stars My Heart AchesReviewed in the United States on 6 August 2023
Verified Purchase
My Heart Aches for Elliott and other trans people like him in these immediate times. I couldn’t help but fall for him by the time I got to the end of his book. But if I were him I would be worried every time I leave my house, constantly looking over my shoulder and never letting my guard down. If I were him I would likely purchase and carry a concealed weapon for protection. Trans people are being killed every day as well as hated to the extreme thanks to political creeps who have to have someone to hate. The gays have become too powerful to go after so the haters have now chosen trans people. The book was a terrific read Not chronological so I found my self going back and rereading some sections just to keep names and relationships straight. But Elliot’s life so far has been far from ‘chronological’ so I can see why he wrote his book that way. The relationship with his father is tragic especially since the father ends up siding with some anti-trans writers. That current relationship seems to remain a mystery. I found myself watching some of Elliot’s recent interviews about the book as reading it sparked my curiosity. Overall a fascinating read and I wish him the best as I await his next book.
2 people found this helpfulReport
J K
5.0 out of 5 stars Honest and well-writtenReviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 August 2023
Verified Purchase
Not so fussed as others about the random chronology as the writing is searingly honest, highly introspective, and boasts some very well-turned phrases. Elliott could take up writing as a second career if he decided to sideline acting. Let's hope his acting never hits the back-burner though, he's always a welcome and highly luminous screen presence. One can only hope such fearless, soul-searching honesty regarding the whole issue of gender dysphoria (and troubled upbringing) helps to inspire more understanding and tolerance of the trans community. This is the 21st century after all, and Elliott was a fully-fledged adult in his 30s on making the choice to transition, not some confused, impressionable teenager. Give him a break, he's finally happy after years in the wildnerness. Just be glad for him and others like him who finally come to feel liberated and at home in their own bodies and lives. It's long-overdue.
5 people found this helpfulReport
Braden Pickering
4.0 out of 5 stars A brave, if somewhat disjointed, taleReviewed in the United States on 12 June 2023
Verified Purchase
Although not terribly familiar with his work onscreen, I’ve been somewhat intrigued by Elliot Page as a personality and thought I would give his new memoir a go. I also admit, despite being a gay man myself, I am more than a little ignorant of the struggles facing our transgendered friends and thought it might be a way to entertain as well as educate myself.
While enlightening on both fronts to one degree or another, I do have a few notes. First, the book is not entirely chronological, which isn’t necessarily a problem in and of itself, but the constant jumping around through time and moving from place to place quickly becomes confusing and loses a bit of the ability to see the growth afforded by the journey. A lot of his friends, would-be lovers and acquaintances are referred to by first name only, and more than once I found myself skimming back to check if it was someone who had already been referred to that I missed, someone so famous they only need go by one name a la Madonna, or perhaps simply a pseudonym for someone whose identity he was trying to protect. And finally, the general tone is one of…not quite haughtiness, exactly, but he tends to go off on these abstract metaphors and wordy non-sequiturs that straddle the thin line between sloppy writer and genuine intellectual.
Not that any of this is to say Page is unlikeable, but it seemed like he was still playing some of this close to the chest. We learn a great deal about his family and get a few stories from his film sets, most of which are tied into the greater pressures of gender conformity, but while these are obviously serious topics I do wish he told his story with a bit more humor or lightheartedness sprinkled in. Or maybe that’s just me. Still, while not a super “fun” read it’s a very brave and important one and I appreciate him sharing. Unfortunately the people who need to hear this most probably never will, but it’s good to know another voice has joined the fray. You are seen.
Read less
76 people found this helpfulReport
