It’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 dyke 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.

• Read excerpts at the Brooklyn Rail and also at LitHub

REVIEWS & ARTICLES

• Elisa Gabbert’s “I Want to Ride a Dragon” in the London Review of Books (Aug 2019)

• Greta Lafleur’s “A Fairy’s Tale” in The Sydney Review of Books & Public Books (Jul 2019)

• Katie Da Cunha Lewin’s “Sexual shapeshifting celebration of being young and queer” in the Irish Times (Jul 2019)

• Juliet Jacques in the White Review (Jul 2019)

• Moss Pepe’s “Reading in the Place that Makes You Mad” in Close (Jul 2019)

• Sophie Whitehead’s “Sex, Smut and Shape-shifting” in The F Word (Jul 2019)

• “Queer Story 9” in the Tiny Narrative (Jun 2019)

• Cass Adair in Make (May 2019)

• Justine Hyde in the Saturday Paper (May 2019)

• Lauren O’Neill’s “Music Drives Gender-Play Novel ‘Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl’” at Noisey (Apr 2019)

• Katie Goh at the Skinny (Apr 2019)

• Leon Craig’s “New Forms of Old” in Brixton Review of Books (Apr 2019)

• Christy Olsen in MaximumRocknRoll (Apr 2019)

• Jeremiah Moriarty at Rain Taxi (Aug 2018)

• Amy Lee Lillard’s “Gender-Bent: On Andrea Lawlor’s ‘Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl’” at Entropy (Jun 2018)

• Kaitlyn Greenidge in Lenny Letter (May 2018)

• Kay Gabriel at the Believer's Logger (May 2018)

• Brian Blanchfield's “Trans and Transient” in Bookforum (Feb/Mar 2018)

• "Briefly Noted” in the New Yorker (Jan 2018)

• Maddie's review at Hedgehog Reviews (Jan 2018)

• Caitlin Coder at Peach Picks at Daily Public (Jan 2018)

• Michael Valinsky's "Gender-Bending the Body” in the Los Angeles Review of Books (Nov 2017)

• Jenna Freedman at Lower East Side Librarian (Nov 2017)

• Monica Carter at Foreword (starred review) (Nov/Dec 2017)

• Booklist (Nov 2017)

• Sarah Fonseca at Lambda Literary (Nov 2017)

• Kirkus Reviews (starred) (Aug 2017)

LISTS & SO FORTH

• Vic Parsons’ “7 new trans books you need to read this summer” in PinkNewsUK (Jul 2019)

• “Weekend Reads” in the Brooklyn Paper (Jul 2019)

• “157 Titles to Celebrate the Trans and Gender Non-Conforming Literary Landscape” at the NYPL (Jun 2019)

• Sarah Neilson’s “Reading the Rainbow: A Pride Reading List” at LARB (Jun 2019)

• “Our Favorite LGBTQ+ Reads of the Past Year” at Tor.com (Jun 2019)

• Rosa Inocencio Smith’s “Books Briefing: Books From Our Fathers” in the Atlantic (Jun 2019)

• Sarra Manning’s “Summer Reads to Escape With” in Red UK (Jun 2019)

• Patrick Carey’s “Best Winter Reads of 2019” at ABC (Australia) (Jun 2019)

• “Hot Type for Savvy Travelers — This Month’s Best Books” in Passport Magazine (Jun 2019)

• Elena Nicolaou’s “35 Outstanding LGBTQ+ Books Of 2019” at Refinery29 (Jun 2019)

• Kristian Wilson’s “26 New LGBTQIA+ Books To Read This Pride Month” in Bustle (Jun 2019)

• Laura-Blaise McDowell’s “These 5 Novels About Gender Will Change the Way You Think” at Bookstr (May 2019)

• Maris Kreizman’s “6 New Paperbacks You Should Read Right Now” in Vulture (Apr 2019)

• “Books to Read in May” in Elle UK (Apr 2019)

• “Five Novels that Break All the Rules” in Kirkus (Apr 2019)

• “30 of the Best LGBTQ Books That'll Change the Literary Landscape in 2019” at Oprah.com (Mar 2019)

• Salma Haidrani’s “11 new LGBTQ books to read in 2019” in Dazed (Jan 2019)

• “Favourite Books of 2018” in the Lifted Brow (Dec 2018)

• RL Goldberg’s “Toward Creating a Trans Literary Canon” in the Paris Review (Oct 2018)

• Danez Smith’s “Books that Made Me” in the Guardian (Oct 2018)

• Martine Syms in AnOther Magazine (Oct 2018)

• Malvern Books Staff Picks Review. (Aug 2018)

• Christina Orlando's "12 Books to Pick Up if You Love Pose" at BookRiot (Jul 2018)

• Mike Fleming's "10 LGBTQ Books to Edify and Inspire You This Summer" at Project Q (Jul 2018)

• MJ Franklin's "18 Very Gay and Very Good Books You Should Read This Pride Month" at Mashable.com (Jun 2018)

• Emily Temple’s “15 Novels That Subvert Traditional Gender Roles” in LitHub (Feb 2018)

• Carmen Maria Machado's “A Year in Reading” in The Millions (Dec 2017)

• Heather Scott Partington's “A Year in Reading” in The Millions (Dec 2017)

• Elizabeth Kiefer's “These Are Our Favorite Books Of 2017 — So Far” at Refinery29.com (Nov 2017)

• Melissa Ragsdale's "11 New Fiction Books You Need To Keep An Eye On In November 2017" in Bustle (Nov 2017)

• Lauren Hubbard's "8 New Books You Need to Read in November" in Harper’s Bazaar (Oct 2017)

• Will Owen's "Fall Arts Preview" in the Washington Blade (Sep 2017)