Overview

An electrifying and vulnerable memoir that invites readers into an intimate conversation about our digital and physical selves, gender, and belonging. Part trans woman’s coming-out story and part queer romance, My Body Is Distant is a memoir immersed in virtual worlds, where identity is fluid and fantasies proliferate, and where Maylott can escape her battle with cancer and the life-altering decisions she must make about the body she was born in and the person she really is. In My Body Is Distant, Paige Maylott writes about her life — both virtual and IRL — as she explores her authentic self and sexuality through dream-like virtual worlds. While Paige dances in online BDSM clubs and hurls spells on virtual battlefields, she is swept into a fairy tale romance that pushes her into discovery mode: How can she transcend her carefully curated computer universe and manifest that happiness in the real world? As she discovers the person she is meant to be, Paige contends with a cancer diagnosis and an imploding marriage while struggling to convert an online love story into reality. When a humiliation at work provides the necessary push to transition, Paige finds the freedom to explore her new self. Part trans woman’s coming-out story and part heartfelt romance, My Body Is Distant follows Paige from a childhood obsession with the 1980s game Zork, through a health crisis and divorce, to, ultimately, an affirmation of authenticity and self-love. 'My Body Is Distant is a trans coming out story like no other. Beautifully crafted, propulsive and by turns heartbreaking and funny, Paige Maylott offers us a guided tour of gaming communities and virtual romance, and how they can create collisions and liberation in real life.' — Farzana Doctor, author of Seven and You Still Look the Same

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9781770416918

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Reviews

"""My Body is Distant is beautifully written. And while it may not be glamorous to gush about structure, Maylott has done something very original and creative with the memoir's narrative, that keeps up the pace and tells her story far more richly than if she'd told it from beginning to end in order. Whose life fits together that neatly, anyway?"" -- Whistler Writers Festival ""Maylott's gripping debut memoir covers her gender transition, divorce, and experiments with online relationships in thrillingly nonlinear fashion...This will buoy readers facing similar challenges and offer invaluable guidance to their allies."" -- Publishers Weekly ""My Body Is Distant is an odyssey through the pain of bodily betrayal, but it's also a search for wholeness and refuge, both inside and out, and a testament to the healing powers of the imagination. An incandescently honest portrayal that glitters with raw emotion."" -- Charlotte Gill, author of Almost Brown ""My Body Is Distant is a trans coming out story like no other. Beautifully crafted, propulsive and by turns heartbreaking and funny, Paige Maylott offers us a guided tour of gaming communities and virtual romance, and how they can create collisions and liberation in real life."" --Farzana Doctor, author of Seven and You Still Look the Same"

"""My Body Is Distant is a trans coming out story like no other. Beautifully crafted, propulsive and by turns heartbreaking and funny, Paige Maylott offers us a guided tour of gaming communities and virtual romance, and how they can create collisions and liberation in real life."" --Farzana Doctor, author of Seven and You Still Look the Same"

Author Information

Paige Maylott is a writer, gamer, and explorer of virtual worlds based in Hamilton, Ontario. She is a 2021 Hamilton Arts & Letters Award winner for Creative Non-Fiction, and a recipient of the 2022 Canada Council for the Arts grant.

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