Terry Dactyl
Terry Dactyl by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, published by Coffee House Press in 2025, is a 272-page exploration of intimacy and connection through the lens of queer identity. The narrative follows Terry, a trans girl raised by lesbian mothers in Seattle, as she navigates the vibrant yet tumultuous landscapes of the 1980s, marked by the AIDS crisis and the nightlife of club culture. After relocating to New York City, Terry finds her place among a community of gender-bending club kids while working in a Soho gallery, merging the worlds of art and nightlife.
The book delves into Terry’s journey over two decades, culminating in her return to a changed Seattle during the COVID-19 pandemic. As she confronts gentrification and isolation, the story captures her renewed quest for community amid social upheaval, particularly following the murder of George Floyd. Through its vivid prose, Terry Dactyl presents a rich narrative that intertwines themes of political activism, coming of age, and the complexities of queer life, offering readers a multifaceted view of resilience and identity.
Official synopsis Publisher
From iconic author and activist Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore comes a breathless search for intimacy and connection, ranging from club culture to the art world, from the AIDS crisis to COVID-19.
Terry Dactyl has lived many lives. Raised by boisterous lesbian mothers in Seattle, she comes of age as a trans girl in the 1980s in a world of dancing queens and late-night house parties just as the AIDS crisis ravages their world. After moving to New York City, Terry finds a new family among gender-bending club kids bonded by pageantry and drugs, fiercely loyal and unapologetic. She lands a job at a Soho gallery, where, after partying all night, she spends her days bringing club culture to the elite art world.
Twenty years later, in a panic during the COVID-19 lockdown, Terry returns to a Seattle stifled by gentrification and pandemic isolation until resistance erupts following the murder of George Floyd, and her search for community ignites once again.
In propulsive, intoxicating prose, Terry Dactyl traces an extraordinary journey from adolescence to adulthood, delivering a vital portrait of queer identity in all its peril and possibility.
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