Pageboy

Pageboy was one of the highly anticipated memoirs of 2023. The Canadian actor and activist started his acting career as a child and earned acclaim in various feature films, including Juno and the X-men movie franchise. He has had a successful and varied career and made headlines when he came out as trans in December 2020. 

Page shows great vulnerability sharing his personal and professional lives with his readers. He describes his childhood in Nova Scotia, his teen years, his exploration of his sexuality and gender, the trauma he's endured and the Hollywood's exploitation of young actors. His transition plays a surprisingly minor role and isn't discussed until the end of the book, but he is candid telling his story and shows his Canadian pride by sharing a few Canadian facts. 

I appreciate Page telling his story, but I struggled with the style in which he wrote it. He uses a non-linear approach (think of it like a series of snapshots of his life) and this didn't work well for me in audiobook format, giving the memoir a choppy, disorienting feel. I was also surprised that there was less introspection and unpacking of these issues than I was expecting but I also acknowledge that he is quite young to have written a memoir and hasn't had decades to reflect upon what he has experienced.

Pageboy is heartfelt, honest and revealing. Elliot Page writes about important and personal issues and I love that his queer pride shines in this book. While the style of his writing wasn't for me, I appreciate that he has shared his story and hope readers will gain insight and empathy for those who have experienced traumatic childhoods as well as those who continue to struggle to be who they are meant to be in a world that continues to be filled with intolerance, hate and transphobia.

My Rating: 4 stars

Author: Elliot Page

Genre: Memoir, Canadian, LGBTQ+

Type and Source: eAudio from public library

Narrator: Elliot Page

Run Time: 8 hrs, 23, min

Publisher: MacMillan Audio 

First Published (in print): June 6, 2023

Book Description from GoodReads: The Oscar-nominated star who captivated the world with his performance in Juno finally shares his truth.

“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. Full of behind the scenes details and intimate interrogations on sex, love, trauma, and Hollywood, Pageboy is the story of a life pushed to the brink. But at its core, this beautifully written, winding journey of what it means to untangle ourselves from the expectations of others is an ode to stepping into who we truly are with defiance, strength, and joy.