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Paul Takes The Form Of A Mortal Girl

by Andrea Lawlor

'One of the most exciting - and one of the most fun - novels of the decade' - Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to YouIt's 1993 and Paul Polydoris tends bar at the only gay club in a university town thrumming with politics and partying. He studies queer theory, has a lesbian best friend, makes zines, and is a flâneur with a rich dating life. But Paul's also got a secret: he's a shapeshifter. Oscillating wildly from Riot Grrrl to leather cub, Women's Studies major to trade, Paul transforms his body at will in a series of adventures that take him from Iowa City to Boystown to Provincetown and finally to San Francisco - a journey through the deep queer archives of struggle and pleasure.Andrea Lawlor's debut novel offers a speculative history of early '90s identity politics during the heyday of ACT UP and Queer Nation. Paul Takes the Form of A Mortal Girl is a riotous, razor-sharp bildungsroman whose hero/ine wends his way through a world gutted by loss, pulsing with music, and opening into an array of intimacy and connections.Now part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the very best of modern literature.'Playful, sexy, smart' - Carmen Maria Machado'Evocative and urgent . . . and very funny' - The Observer'"90s punk Orlando". . . a pretty wild ride' - Dazed & Confused'Sexy, outrageous, completely compulsive' - Daisy Johnson
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FICTION & POETRY
FICTION
NON FICTION
LGBTQIA+ FICTION
LGBTQIA+

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Pages:

352

Published:

Jul 2026

Format

Paperback

Publisher

Pan Macmillan

Imprint

Picador

ISBN:

9781035091355



'One of the most exciting - and one of the most fun - novels of the decade' - Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to YouIt's 1993 and Paul Polydoris tends bar at the only gay club in a university town thrumming with politics and partying. He studies queer theory, has a lesbian best friend, makes zines, and is a flâneur with a rich dating life. But Paul's also got a secret: he's a shapeshifter. Oscillating wildly from Riot Grrrl to leather cub, Women's Studies major to trade, Paul transforms his body at will in a series of adventures that take him from Iowa City to Boystown to Provincetown and finally to San Francisco - a journey through the deep queer archives of struggle and pleasure.Andrea Lawlor's debut novel offers a speculative history of early '90s identity politics during the heyday of ACT UP and Queer Nation. Paul Takes the Form of A Mortal Girl is a riotous, razor-sharp bildungsroman whose hero/ine wends his way through a world gutted by loss, pulsing with music, and opening into an array of intimacy and connections.Now part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the very best of modern literature.

'Playful, sexy, smart' - Carmen Maria Machado'Evocative and urgent . . . and very funny' - The Observer'"90s punk Orlando". . . a pretty wild ride' - Dazed & Confused'Sexy, outrageous, completely compulsive' - Daisy Johnson
$28.00
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