{"product_id":"cactus-country-a-boyhood-memoir-hardcover","title":"Cactus Country: A Boyhood Memoir - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eZo? Bossiere\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA striking literary memoir of genderfluidity, class, masculinity, and the American Southwest that captures the author's experience coming of age in a Tucson, Arizona, trailer park.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Newly arrived in the Sonoran Desert, eleven-year-old Zo?'s world is one of giant beetles, thundering javelinas, and gnarled paloverde trees. With the family's move to Cactus Country RV Park, Zo? has been given a fresh start and a new, shorter haircut. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Although Zo? doesn't have the words to express it, he experiences life as a trans boy--and in Cactus Country, others begin to see him as a boy, too. Here, Zo? spends hot days chasing shade and freight trains with an ever-rotating pack of sunburned desert kids, and nights fending off his own questions about the body underneath his baggy clothes. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e As Zo? enters adolescence, he must reckon with the sexism, racism, substance abuse, and violence endemic to the working class Cactus Country men he's grown close to, whose hard masculinity seems as embedded in the desert landscape as the cacti sprouting from parched earth. In response, Zo? adopts an androgynous style and new pronouns, but still cannot escape what it means to live in a gendered body, particularly when a fraught first love destabilizes their sense of self. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e But beauty flowers in this desert, too. Zo? persists in searching for answers that can't be found in Cactus Country, dreaming of a day they might leave the park behind to embrace whatever awaits beyond. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Equal parts harsh and tender, \u003ci\u003eCactus Country\u003c\/i\u003e is an invitation for readers to consider how we find our place in a world that insists on stark binaries, and a precisely rendered journey of self-determination that will resonate with anyone who's ever had to fight to be themself.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eZoë Bossiere\u003c\/b\u003e (they\/she) is a writer, editor, and teacher from Tucson, Arizona. They are the managing editor of \u003ci\u003eBrevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction\u003c\/i\u003e and co-editor of the anthologies \u003ci\u003eThe Best of Brevity\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Lyric Essay as Resistance: Truth from the Margins\u003c\/i\u003e. Bossiere currently lives in Oregon with her partner and child. Read more at zoebossiere.com.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 272\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.1 x 8.43 x 5.51 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e May 21, 2024\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52033429668141,"sku":"9781419773181","price":26.59,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0938\/3185\/6429\/files\/zHK5aBCp_69781419773181.webp?v=1777596663","url":"https:\/\/ishookbooks.com\/products\/cactus-country-a-boyhood-memoir-hardcover","provider":"iShook Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}