Your Face in Mine: A Novel

“Mr. Lipkin believes himself to be suffering from what he himself has titled ‘Radical Identity Dysphoria Syndrome.’ That is, he believes that he was born into a physical identity of the wrong race.” That is part of a letter written to a Dr. Silpasuvan in Bangkok from a Jorge Lopez, M.D. regarding one of the two protagonists in this unique novel. And I can relate because there are times I’ve said this about myself: I think I’m a black woman trapped in a gay man’s (sort of a man!) body. Of course when I say that I’m joking (sort of). And so as not to completely confuse the reader, know this: it’s not a Michael Jackson-type of situation. Oh, yes, and Jewish-born Lipkin becomes Wilkenson. I am a person who is very critical of first-person narratives, using as my “gold standard” that perfect example of first person (retrospective in this case): Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.” The novel consists of multiple stories and told in multiple narrative formats: there’s Martin Lipkin’s (Wilkenson’s) coming out, Martin’s taped account that he gives to Kelly for background, and then Kelly’s own story about his marriage to a Chinese woman and what happened to her and their young daughter as well as the back story—the one that has the two, Martin and Kelly, linked from early ages—of their band when they were teenagers in Baltimore. Now that we have become aware that racism continues to haunt white American (or at least it should haunt all of us who are white), this is a novel for our time. Kelly has a very strong narrative voice. A very believable one. Jess Row is a brilliant writer and establishes early on how Kelly has acquired his writing skills. I think it is one of the best novels—maybe in places a bit over-written—I’ve read in the past two or three years (and I read at least one novel a week).

This is a novel for those who like their fiction full of important ideas and deep considerations. YOUR FACE IN MINE is about race and Jess Row does not hesitate to examine what it means to be black or white or Asian or otherwise. Much of the novel's dialogue involves characters debating race and topics of identity, and while this is fascinating to read, it is probably not for everyone.To put it another way: there is not much of a plot to YOUR FACE IN MINE. It's about a man who is writing a book about a friend who has undergone race reassignment surgery, transforming himself from a white man into a black man. I won't go any deeper because there wasn't any point where I felt particularly engaged by the characters or their desires. Indeed, despite Row's efforts to create drama, the stakes feel surprisingly low throughout the novel. I didn't particularly care about the characters.But I was deeply engaged by Row's musings on race and I've thought hard about the novel's over-arching question of whether we can be born with the wrong racial assignment, in the way we can be born with the wrong gender assignment. That is a fascinating question and the exploration of it can take one to some new understandings, or at least some new intellectual terrains. For this excellent exploration such an important topic--and for the fine, sentence-by-sentence writing--I'm giving this four stars. Novels need not have gripping plots to grab you.

Your Face in Mine is a great novel for those interested in thinking more about racial identity. I would classify it as speculative and conceptual. It's enjoyable, but fairly academic. Jess Row's comments and thoughts about the similarities of his book to Rachel Dolezal's case show that Row is astute, thoughtful, and careful.

I just haven't finished it.. I think the concept for the book is fascinating. I got about 1/2 way through it, and while it am enjoying it, I feel like he didn't get into the story elements I wanted to know about. he seems to spend too much time on other things taking to long to get to the heart of the matter. I will admit I've also been quite busy, and while I've but the book down, I will return to it to finish.

Insights into rarely discussed complications of the American psyche by an astute commentator and terrifically talented fabulist.

A very interesting book. An almost surreal read. People changing their ethnicityit with the help of scientists, plastic surgeons and genetics.Who knows---maybe a possibility.

Great promise never delivered. The first few chapters lead to a nothing dialogue. Confusing. Elected not to finish it.

Very interesting and imaginative idea presented in a suspenseful story that draws you further and further into the situation without telling you where it's all going.

In unserer Gesellschaft gehört plastische Chirurgie zum Alltag, Geschlechtsumwandlung ist ein Thema, das nicht mehr tabuisiert wird. Was ist jedoch die Lösung, wenn ein Mensch davon überzeugt ist, dass er der falschen Rasse angehört? Das neue Buch von Jess Row ist eine sehr gelungene Mischung aus Krimi, Diskussion ethischer und moralischer Grundlagen, und vor allem, eine Widerspiegelung zwischenmenschlicher Beziehungen und die Verpflichtungen, die das einfache Menschsein mit sich bringt..Sehr spannender Lesestoff