Lucy Sante's memoir employs a sophisticated temporal structure that alternates between past and present, creating a literary form that mirrors the psychological experience of transitioning itself. This structural choice transforms the narrative from simple chronological recounting into a complex meditation on how new self-knowledge reshapes our understanding of lived experience. The alternation between past and present functions as more than organizational convenience—it becomes the memoir's central metaphor for the way transition creates new ways of seeing one's entire life.

The back-and-forth movement between temporal planes allows Sante to demonstrate how present authenticity retroactively illuminates previously opaque experiences. When she recalls arranging her face in mirrors at age eleven or her childhood fascination with her mother's clothing, these memories gain new significance precisely because they're filtered through her current understanding of gender identity. The structure enables readers to experience alongside Sante the revelatory process of...