I'm Looking Through You

Growing Up Haunted: A Memoir

By: Jennifer Finney Boylan

Narrated by: Jennifer Finney Boylan

From the best-selling author of She's Not There comes another buoyant, unforgettable memoir. I'm Looking Through You is about growing up in a haunted house...and making peace with the ghosts that dwell in our hearts.

For Jennifer Boylan, creaking stairs, fleeting images in the mirror, and the remote whisper of human voices were everyday events in the Pennsylvania house in which she grew up in the 1970s. But these weren't the only specters beneath the roof of the mansion known as the "Coffin House". Jenny herself - born James - lived in a haunted body, and both her mysterious, diffident father and her wild, unpredictable sister would soon become ghosts to Jenny as well.

I'm Looking Through You is an engagingly candid investigation of what it means to be "haunted". Looking back on the spirits who invaded her family home, Boylan launches a full investigation with the help of a group of earnest, if questionable, ghostbusters. Boylan also examines the ways we find connections between the people we once were and the people we become. With wit and eloquence, Boylan shows us how love, forgiveness, and humor help us find peace - with our ghosts, with our loved ones, and with the uncanny boundaries, real and imagined, between men and women.

©2008 Jennifer Finney Boylan (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A lovely, heartening piece of work." (Kirkus)
"Boylan writes with a measured comedic timing and a light touch, affecting a pitch-perfect balance between sorrow, skepticism, and humor." (Publishers Weekly)

Do we haunt ourselves?

The family relationships were described quite well. Do we ever know everything going on with others however closely we are related? Having grown up during the same time, I appreciated the references. Having gone to HS with someone who transitioned I have to wonder what their journey was like in the Bible Belt.

A good memoir made better by a spirited reading by the author

We all live with ghosts. Jenny Boylan is perceptive - and honest - enough to acknowledge it. She covers somewhat familiar ground (if you've read her other works) in a fresh and engaging way.
While I enjoyed the book, hearing the author read it... no... PERFORM it, makes it even more enjoyable. Boylan's humor, poignancy and generosity of spirit for all the absurd and alluring characters she encounters on her life's journey captures their complicated, paradoxical, relatable humanity with a descriptive power likely to haunt the reader long after putting down the story. I got lost in this memoir through the author's skill as a writer and storyteller. Thank you, Ms Boylan, for letting the reader/listener accompany you in spirit, as you revisit the places and people (child, student, parent, sibling) you've been along your journey so far.

Thank you Jennifer Boylan for being alive.

Thank you for narrating and writing this phenomenal book about your life. Please listen to this book.

Beautifully written

A beautifully written, wise, book. if you're unfamiliar with the author you might want to read her "She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders" first.

Very good but not really a "Ghost" book

This was a very well written book but for the most part it wasn't a ghost story. There were a few creepy parts in there but that wasn't the point of the story. But, if you wanted a glimpse into the life of a transgendered person, with a few ghost stories thrown in, this is the book for you.

Interesting and Funny

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I would recommend, but mostly for the humor. Though the theme of the book is the life of a transgendered person, that part of the story is not really examined. The stories about Boylan's family, though, are quite funny. Reminds me, to a small degree, of David Sedaris's sense of humor.

What did you like best about this story?

The accounts of living in a haunted house.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The performance is by the author, and you can't really fault that. Another narrator, however, might have been a better choice. Since Boylan is an English professor, her reading tends to sound like she is reciting poetry in that annoying stentorian method used by poets.

If you could give I'm Looking Through You a new subtitle, what would it be?

Haunted

Any additional comments?

Enjoyable, though it could have ended several chapters earlier without losing anything.

Is this real?

I sit for hours at work and listen to podcast after podcast. I started listening to audible which has been a A wonderful change.

I got this book because i thought it was about ghosts. I haven’t finished, but came here to say that I am in love with this story whether there are more ghosts to come or not. The way you read your story just makes me feel like we’re new friends and you’re sharing your intimate life story with me.

Thank you so much for sharing this. As mother of a trans child, this has helped me so much to see how they may feel as they figure themselves out. Just a beautiful story so far.

Thank you, thank you!

Good follow-up to the first book

At first it felt hard to relate to this book, but I stuck with it, and glad I did. Good to hear about life after changing gender, and still sometimes feeling different from other people, for different reasons than before making the change. Like any of us who may have counted on something or someone to fix our lives, it’s far more complex than we might have anticipated…

worst ever

hated it. I Could not finish it and stayed confused all the time. don't buy

Tedious & Boring!

After listening to this book I know that I just wasted a perfectly good audible credit. It took a bit to follow the main gist of the story and then it bounced all over from her past to the present to past etc. It was meant to be a deep thought provoking book which in my opinion was extremely tedious. The synopsis written about this book was very misleading. I wouldn't have given this book even one star if I could have submitted my review without it.