Pageboy by Elliot Page Review

My creative writing professor once told me, we never really stop writing about our parents and childhood. I had stopped by her office during office hours, hoping to glean some tips on how to write my assigned nonfiction piece, and lamented how difficult it seems to stray from this topic. She reassured me that it’s normal.

Pageboy by Elliot Page reminded me of this sentiment. He weaves together moments and glimpses of his life as someone deeply closeted and unable to express his inner feelings of being a boy at a very young age. He contextualizes his circumstances of growing up with divorced parents, a difficult stepmother, bullies at school, and ultimately, his decision to pursue acting as his passion and career. I enjoyed reading this, and I felt that it was realistic, tragic, painful—but in many ways, triumphant as well. There are so many layers to his experience with coming out as gay and then trans, and also with his romantic and familial life. It’s fascinating to read just how much society and his industry utilize queerness when it’s convenient and sweep it away when it’s not.

I made the mistake of reading a few reviews on Goodreads before writing my review. Many of the criticisms were about the nonlinear, jumpy nature of this memoir, making it confusing. Another was that there wasn’t enough introspection upon dumping many shocking and disturbing stories or facts on the reader before casually moving on to the next. However, I have to slightly disagree—while I do understand where these reviewers are coming from. If Elliot Page truly wrote this book himself, and from my knowledge he doesn’t have much writing experience, I think it’s realistic to not expect a formulaic unfolding of a narrative. That’s not how life works. Sometimes it takes a lifetime to come to terms with events and horrors that occurred in your life. The way in which he remembers significant events isn’t going to be linear, and it’ll actually often be jumbled and confusing and unresolved. That’s life. But what do you think?

Ultimately, I enjoyed this, and if you like memoirs or are a fan of Page’s work (my favorite movie is Inception), I’d highly recommend.