Transgender Book Reviews

Miss Vera's Finishing School for Boys Who Want to be Girls
Nonfiction by Veronica Vera
Copyright 1997, 200 pages, $14.95 (with photos)
Doubleday
ISBN 0-385-48456-9

Capsule: A fun book! Veronica Vera (not her real name) addresses a need by creating a real school to train guys to pass as gals. In her very earthy and honest way, she enthusiastically recounts her many adventures and successes as headmistress. Classes emphasize the spiritual as well as the physical.

Full review

The sign students see upon entering Miss Vera's Finishing School might well read "Entertain hope, all ye who enter here," because the school's headmistress, Veronica Vera, is a fairy godmother for male crossdressers. Vera found a need and filled it -- the ultimate wet dream for crossdressers -- the chance to be schooled in the feminine arts.

This is a wonderful, giddy, positive, supportive book and it's not surprising that a major publisher picked it up. The spirit of the book is exemplified by the whimsical, wavy separation between columns on the pages.

There is some how-to in this book, but Miss Vera's most interesting writing describes her students, their histories and their transformations. Hiding inside computer nerds and corporate lawyers are butterflies waiting to spread their wings and sashay into nightclubs.

Miss Vera isn't afraid to reveal her own feelings and her fascination with the sexual part of crossdressing. She delights in seeing penises struggling to become erect under pantyhose. And she's a very good writer who knows how to turn a good phrase ("Venus envy," "sissy power," and "Our girls have followed their erections to our door").

It's too bad there isn't a Miss Vera in every large city. In the meantime, for many, her book will offer plenty of warm encouragement to liberate the girl within.

(Reviewer: Valory Gravois) (Copyright ©1999 by Alchemist/Light Publishing)

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