None Of The Above

Foreword by Alok Vaid-Menon

In None of the Above, Travis Alabanza explores the concept of gender and their place in a world that rigidly and aggressively enforces the gender binary. Alabanza shares seven phrases that have been directed at them throughout their life—some deceptively innocuous, some deliberately loaded or violent, some celebratory. These phrases act as a lens through which they explore attitudes and misconceptions about gender, illuminating broader issues within a culture that insists on gender as a fixed identity. None of the Above explicates how these rigid ideas of gender are enforced by people—on others, but also on themselves.

Drawing from their experiences as a racialized queer person, Alabanza deftly interrogates our current frameworks around identity with nuance, openness, and humor. The result is a meditation on doubt and language that turns a mirror back on society, and on ourselves. Featuring a foreword by Alok Vaid-Menon, None of the Above questions what we think we know—and shares new ways that we might live.

Winner of the 2023 Jhalak Prize for Writers of Color

“A bold, astute consideration of the challenges—and vital potential—of living outside normative categories.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Phenomenal.” —GQ

“Thank you, Travis, for your honesty, openness, humor, and brilliance. I devoured this book.” —Elliot Page, actor and author of Pageboy: A Memoir

“Travis Alabanza is one of the most talented storytellers of a generation. None of the Above is potent, engaging, hilarious, and beautiful, just like Travis.” —Jonathan Van Ness, Emmy-nominated host of Queer Eye and New York Times best-selling author

“Searing social commentary peppered with personal anecdotes… [None of the Above] challenges the very idea of the gender binary—and how its rigidity impacts those who exist outside of it.” —TIME

“Travis Alabanza is a wise, hilarious, and sharp thinker—a writer who not only defies categorization, but who makes categorization itself seem fussy and obsolete.” —Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, Baby: A Novel

None of the Above is more than a breath of fresh air. It’s a prison break, a revolt, a wild thumb in the eye of a carceral gender system that tries to bind our flesh into rigid and ranked categories.”—Susan Stryker, author of Transgender History: The Roots of Today’s Revolution

"None of the Above explores the nuance of self-understanding in an honest, hilarious, and heartfelt way. It is a stunning intersectional interrogation of gender that reads like a conversation with a friend." —Blair Imani, author of Read This to Get Smarter: About Race, Class, Gender, Disability & More

“Throughout this engaging production, they reject the expectation of a tidy response to the ‘When did you know . . . ’ question and the demands to perform according to narrowly defined gender parameters.” —AudioFile

“[None of the Above] is timely and timeless, courageous as well as meticulously crafted.” —Sunny Singh, director of the Jhalak Prize

“Humane and heart-rending.” —The Guardian

“Alternately wry, witty, and wounded. . . . Alabanza lifts the lid on our potential for empathy, alliance, and complicity.” —Irish Times