Hello, Cruel World: 101+ Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks, and Other Outlaws

By Kate Bornstein

This 20th anniversary edition of transsexual trailblazer Kate Bornstein’s unconventional guide to staying alive for teens, freaks and gender outlaws features 20 NEW Alternatives, a new foreword by the author, and a new afterword by Paul Preciado.

"A don't-hurt guide for anyone who's been tempted to give in to despair."—Time Out New York

"You'll want to keep extra copies of this one on the shelf to give away to friends in need." —Bitch magazine

Now updated and with new material Hello, Cruel World features a catalog of 121 alternatives to suicide that range from the playful (moisturize!), to the irreverent (shatter some family values), to the controversial, fun, challenging and easy. Encouraging readers to unleash their hearts' harmless desires, the book has only one directive: "Don't be mean." It is this guiding principle that brings the reader on a self-validating journey and toward a resounding decision to embrace life.
Using graphics and checklists, and with great humor and gutsiness, Kate Bornstein dares readers to re-envision the gender system as we know it. She offers stories and insights that are tenderly intimate and unapologetically edgy. Hello, Cruel World also includes:

• an Introduction by Sara Quin of Tegan and Sara
• The Hello Cruel Scale of Feelings
• an Index of Alternatives with safety and effectiveness scales

Suicide rates among LGBTQ+ teens are much higher than for their cis peers; with love and humor and confession and insight, Bornstein hopes to keep every freak out there alive. She is a radical role model, an affectionate best friend, and a guiding mentor all in one. This one-of-a-kind guide to staying alive is a much-needed, sometimes unorthodox approach to life for those who want to stay on the edge, and alive.

Finalist, LGBT Nonfiction Lambda Literary Award, 2009 Honor Book, Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award, 2009

Paperback, 288 pages
Published by Triangle Square (Apr 2025)
ISBN-13: 9781644214435
Dimensions: 12.7 x 1.52 x 17.78 cm

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