Stag Dance

Stag Dance Synopsis

**The irresistible follow-up to the hit debut novel Detransition, Baby** A BOOK TO WATCH IN 2025 IN THE GUARDIAN, IRISH TIMES, ROLLING STONES AND THE BBC 'As innovative, insightful, funny, and confronting as we've come to expect from Peters' work' Independent, Best Books to Look Out for in 2025 'A shining talent' Stylist Best Books of 2025 'Hot, heartbreaking and thrillingly victorious' MIRANDA JULY 'Potent and surprising and takes no prisoners' CARMEN MARIA MACHADO 'Spellbinding. With pathos and wit, Peters explores characters on the brink of self-discovery' BRIT BENNETT Deep in the forest, a group of restless lumberjacks working an illegal logging outfit plan a winter dance that some will volunteer to attend as women; the broadest, strongest axeman finds himself caught in a rivalry with a pretty, young jack that culminates in jealousy, betrayal and an astonishing spectacle of transition. Meanwhile, in other times and places, the gender apocalypse is brought about by an unstable ex-girlfriend; an illicit boarding-school romance surfaces intrigue and cruelty; and a Las Vegas party weekend turns dark when a young crossdresser must choose between a thrilling mystery man or a veteran trans woman offering unglamorous sisterhood. In this quartet of tales, Torrey Peters' keen eye for the rough edges of desire reveals fresh possibilities. Acidly funny, boldly inventive and breathtaking in scope, Stag Dance provokes and unsettles, inspires and delights. More praise for Torrey Peters: 'Peters confronts the unruliness of our desires' New Yorker 'Peters captures the grandiose, heartfelt and sometimes mangled aspirations of queer and trans people' Chris Kraus 'Utterly savage and lacerating while also conveying endlessly expanding compassion' Garth Greenwell