A Year Without a Name

A Memoir

By: Cyrus Dunham

Narrated by: Cyrus Dunham

A Lambda Literary Award Finalist: from "an extraordinary new voice," a "passionate and clear-eyed and unputdownable" meditation on queerness, family, and desire (Mary Karr).

For as long as they can remember, Cyrus Grace Dunham felt like a visitor in their own body. Their life was a series of imitations—lovable little girl, daughter, sister, young gay woman—until their profound sense of alienation became intolerable.

Moving between Grace and Cyrus, Dunham brings us inside the chrysalis of gender transition, asking us to bear witness to an uncertain and exhilarating process that troubles our most basic assumptions about who we are and how we are constituted. Written with disarming emotional intensity in a voice uniquely theirs, A Year Without a Name is a potent, thrillingly unresolved queer coming of age story.

Named one of Fall 2019's Most Anticipated Books by:
Time
NYLON
Vogue
ELLE
Buzzfeed
Bustle
O Magazine
Harper's Bazaar

Critic reviews

"Cyrus Grace Dunham is such a tender, open, and nuanced writer, and his book allows itself to be messy and complicated in the name of unflinching honesty. A stunning account of both longing and belonging, A Year Without a Name made every corner of my heart sing."—Hanif Abdurraqib, New York Times bestsellingauthor of THEY CAN'T KILL US UNTIL THEY KILL US and GO AHEAD IN THE RAIN

"Cyrus Grace Dunham has written a classic memoir-passionate and clear eyed and unputdownable. I've never seen a gender journey rendered in more tender, riveting detail. Bravo to this extraordinary new voice."—Mary Karr, author of THE LIARS' CLUB, CHERRY, LIT, and THE ART OF MEMOIR

"Cyrus's book is raw, beautiful and uncompromisingly honest: a slippery, vital account of gender, family and the longing to be real. I read it with my heart in my mouth."—Olivia Laing, author of THE LONELY CITY and CRUDO

"A work of extraordinarily intimate confession rendered in startling, sparkling -- and addictive -- prose. With erudition, frankness, and eloquence, Dunham braids a propulsive narrative momentum together with exquisite particulars of daily life. This book, simply put, summons a private and deeply pleasurable exchange with its reader. In the grand tradition, it keeps us company."—Jordy Rosenberg,author of CONFESSIONS OF THE FOX

"A Year Without a Name is staggering, intimate, and astonishing; you can't help but be awed by the end of it. I'm grateful for the journey this memoir took me on, for what Dunham illuminates about loving ourselves and others."—Bryan Washington, author of LOT

"Cyrus Grace Dunham's memoir is unflinching. His unsettlement about gender is profound, his writing about it genuine and affecting. A Year Without a Name let me travel with Dunham on his difficult, sometimes treacherous, sometimes beautiful, always memorable path."—Lynne Tillman, author of MEN AND APPARITIONS

"Dunham's deeply felt, forthright, lucid accounting of the complex process of determining who they are is astonishing in its intimacy and generosity, and serves as a reminder of how difficult, but how necessary, it is to be honest with ourselves about who we know ourselves to be."
—Kristen Iversen, NYLON

"An honest, reflective reckoning well worth reading."—Tomi Obaro, BUZZFEED

"'Devotion is the closest thing I've known to a stable gender,' Dunham writes in this deeply intimate memoir. Lucid, unvarnished prose makes the book compulsively readable even as it wrestles with the weightiness of transition and identity."—O MAGAZINE

"Raw and powerful."—VOGUE

A love story to yourself

I wanted to reread right away. It felt like a love story to finding yourself with beautifully written complexities that come with it.

Good but too slow for me

I did like the 80% of the book but for me it was too slow (I had to listened in x1.3 speed). Also there was a lot of relationship information and too many people involve (to many names and not so much important info about them)…I got a little bit confused. But I do recommended it.

Impactful sharing of a story

I think audiobooks narrated by thr author mean that much more. There is a weight to the words that resonates stronger. This book shares an experience that many do not have, and does so in a way that can be relatable for any reader. Leaves a reader feeling like they want to hear more but is a compact enough read to stay engaged for the entirety.

Excellent

This book is exceptional and meant a lot to me. I appreciated the audio format. Highly recommended.

I hung on every word

Thanks to the author, for sharing your experience with such honesty. It really helps.