The All of It

What’s it like to grow up in an Aussie family that has a man of every flavour? A bank robber, an infamous sports umpire, several different breeds of drug addict (collect the whole set!), a roster of crafty swindlers, an attempted murderer and the local town drunk. And what if you had a secret so ghastly that you feared it made you more disgraceful than all of your roguish ancestors combined?

Seven years ago, Ben was a millennial with a death wish. He was loveless, overweight, crashing in his parents’ rumpus room and blinking his life away in a haze of marijuana vape. Then one day Ben decided to change everything – starting with the Ben bit. Becoming Cadance was more than a gender transition: it was a transition in every way, fear to acceptance, from self-loathing to love, anger to kindness. She was determined to experience the all of it.

Written with dazzling creativity and exuberance, The All of It is a wild coming-of-gender memoir like no other. Tender, tragic, hilarious and life-affirming, it will leave you understanding a little more about trans people, rural Australia, family, millennials and the beautiful contradictions of our kaleidoscopic world.

Our lives are multiple, our stories of ourselves never-ending, and yet when it comes to being a transgender person, there is this idea that we have one sole identity: trans. In The All of It: A bogan rhapsody, Cadance Bell gives us multitudes; she's not just a 30-something transwoman, she's a true bogan Australian, raised on coal mines, Catholic guilt and greasy chips. Bell has an incredibly easy and visceral way of writing; it's blunt and evocative but also satisfying and transportive, her descriptions of childhood oozing with vivid and haunting imagery. There is always humour interwoven with the bleak, grotesque and painful, and that style of punching through trauma with self-deprecating jokes is such a familiar and relatable part of the queer experience. This memoir is raw, vulnerable, authentic and full of heart. Bell doesn't falter in her honesty, describing guilty wet dreams, stealing her mother's bras, furtively buying teen girl magazines, and secretly dressing in femme clothing while tripping on LSD. Bell beautifully paints the anguish of a budding transwoman tormented by gender dysphoria, self-loathing and shame, finally blossoming into the gender euphoria that is to exist authentically as herself. Both tragic and uplifting, The All of It provides readers with a small insight into one bogan Australian's trans experience, for fellow adult trans people and allies alike. George Banach-Salas is a former bookseller, currently writing and teaching in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Cadance ‘Cady’ Bell is an Australian storyteller whose writing has appeared in publications including the Guardian and the popular queer blogs Rainbow Roo and I Miss Pockets. She has written, produced and directed dozens of award-winning short films, music videos and TV commercials. Her documentary films include The Rainbow Passage for Network 10 and Screen Australia, and Who I Am, the world’s first documentary exploring the intersection of gender diversity and neurodivergence. She has performed at events such as Queerstories and the Antidote Festival at the Sydney Opera House. In 2020 she shared a virtual stage with Dr Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates with the Poplabs Social Impact Incubator, with her mission to ‘unmake prejudice’ by encouraging audiences to know LGTBQIA+ stories. Cady is a co-founder of Rainbow Day, which celebrates its twentieth year in 2022, having raised almost $1 million for charitable causes. And she is the founder of Threeki, which seeks to promote mindful kindness. She is currently working on a science-fiction novel: Letters to Our Robot Son. Cadance lives in New South Wales with her fiancée Amanda. She likes Pokémon Go and short walks to the fridge. She is openly transgender and freaking loves burritos.

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