Some Strange Music Draws Me In

A Novel

De: Griffin Hansbury

Narrado por: Petey Gibson

From an award-winning author, this provocative novel tells an emotionally gripping story about friendship, family, and transgender awakening in a working-class American town.

It’s the summer of 1984 in Swaffham, Massachusetts, when Mel (short for Melanie) meets Sylvia, a tough-as-nails trans woman whose shameless swagger inspires Mel’s dawning self-awareness. But Sylvia’s presence sparks fury among her neighbors and throws Mel into conflict with her mother and best friend. Decades later, in 2019, Max (formerly Mel) is on probation from his teaching job for, ironically, defying speech codes around trans identity. Back in Swaffham, he must navigate life as part of a fractured family and face his own role in the disasters of the past.

Populated by a cast of unforgettable characters, Some Strange Music Draws Me In is a propulsive work about multiple electrifying relationships—between a working-class mother and her queer child, between a trans man and his right-wing sister, and between a teenager and her troubled best friend. Griffin Hansbury, in elegant, arresting, and fearless prose, dares to explore taboos around gender and class as he offers a deeply moving portrait of friendship, family, and a girlhood lived sideways. A timely and captivating narrative of self-realization amid the everyday violence of small-town intolerance, Some Strange Music Draws Me In builds to an explosive conclusion, illuminating the unexpected ways that difference can provide a ticket to liberation.

©2024 Griffin Hansbury (P)2024 Audible, Inc.

gorgeous, satisfying, heartfelt trans lineage

I loved this work so much. So much nuance, grit, craft, wisdom. What a generous gift to the world. I couldn’t stop listening. A rare and artful tapestry that weaves intergenerational healing, class, gender, power, and the erotic in sublime realness, this story goes deep without overexertion. Uniquely affirming and illuminative, this is a powerfully expressive story that will hold particular meaning for trans and queer people, but is a great work for the larger audience.

Fantastic story STELLAR performance

This was a beautiful and complex story that hit home in many ways— what is gained and what is lost with broader acceptance, the potency of a first connection that allows one to see that there might be more doors to open. Captured really well.

And DAMN the actor reading this book absolutely killed it. I could not stop listening, totally obsessed. Endlessly delighted by the full on mass accents throughout the entire book. 10/10. Hope he keeps on doing audiobooks, he gave this one such life!!!

A must read

Queer rep: all forms, but the primary focus is transgender

I am an awe of this book. It is so incredibly poetic and beautiful. The story was heart wrenching, and the imagery was strong. I feel so much love and closeness to the characters. I feel like I was living in the story alongside them. As a younger generation queer/trans person, it was important and much needed insight into what my “elders” experienced when they were younger. “Elders” as in, just a generation ago.

This book took me a bit longer than my reads usually take me to finish, simply because it was much more real than my typical fantasy/romance books. But that doesn’t mean it was any less impactful. If anything, this book made much more of an impact on my memory and subconscious than most of the other books I have read this year. I enjoyed taking my time with it, and taking my time absorbing and processing it. I enjoyed when the book and characters would creep into my consciousness during quiet moments, and I was able to recall the story and watch the character characters play out the scenes in my head - giving me time to ponder what life must’ve been like, and how I would’ve fit into the world if I was born just a generation before.

I am grateful to Petey Gibson, the narrator of the audiobook I listened to, for making the personal recommendation. I enjoyed Peter in a different book I had heard, and decided to connect with him on Instagram. He immediately recommended this read (well, listen), and I can see why he did.

I fully believed this book was a form of non-fiction until just now lol.

Either way, to the author of this book, thank you. Throughout the read, I frequently found myself amazed at how much connection you made between different aspects of the book. It was almost like watching threads being interwoven and tied. Life often feels disconnected, but you found ways to connect even the smallest details, like the memory of a sunset. I am amazed and impressed by the poetry in this book, and am so grateful that it was completed and published in my lifetime. Thank you.

Just love. Fantastic story with a unique perspective tied to gender, class, and sexuality

Fantastic. As a transmasc person who grew up poor in a small conservative town, I devoured this story. I felt parts of me represented when we so rarely see our stories elevated. The protagonist even delves into this- the issues of transmasc invisibility and survivor’s guilt. He also talks from the perspective of an older trans person, which is a rarely heard perspective in its own right. Though I’m not old yet, I imagine this will be really meaningful to older trans people out there too. I loved this story because it was beautiful storytelling woven together with sociological commentary on gender, class, and sexuality. The audio performance was also fantastic, with accents that pulled me further into the story’s universe. I cannot wait to read more by this author.

Reads like a memoir

I listened to the audio rather than read, and I found the narrator voice to be distractingly raspy. The story reminded me of the style like Judy Blume, where you learn tons about the characters’ internal lives. I really enjoyed the story and was glad there wasn’t a major queer tragedy (death). I felt like the 80’s were well represented, being 14 in 1984 myself.

This book was like therapy to me

As a trans man from a conservative family in Florida, I have never felt more seen than I have listening to Max’s story. I cried several times, both from sadness and from joy. This book changed my life in ways I cannot yet describe. What a beautiful gift to the ftm community.

Couldn’t Stop Listening

This audiobook is something I could not “put down “. I usually ride my bike to work but took the subway several times just so I could listen to it. I’m not yet finished with the book but love it so much I have to review it now so more ppl read it.
The toggling between pre- pandemic contemporary adult life and the author’s teen self- alternating 1984 to 2019 -was such a great strategy for connecting to the narrator’s young self and how they have become who they are now. As a fellow gen X queer person from the burbs growing up in a single mom household with an assortment of family dysfunctions and class stress, I found almost everything down to the smallest details so much like a mirror of my own experience.
It is such a beautiful and funny story and so well written. Also super funny to have the Massachusetts accents! It really adds to the story, giving it place and authenticity.