Why do people pass? Fifteen writers reveal their experiences with passing.
For some, “passing” means opportunity, access, or safety. Others don’t willingly pass but are “passed” in specific situations by someone else. We Wear the Mask, edited by Brando Skyhorse and Lisa Page, is an illuminating and timely anthology that examines the complex reality of passing in America.
Skyhorse, a Mexican American, writes about how his mother passed him as an American Indian before he learned who he really is. Page shares how her white mother didn’t tell friends about her black ex-husband or that her children were, in fact, biracial.
The anthology includes writing from Gabrielle Bellot, who shares the disquieting truths of passing as a woman after coming out as trans, and MG Lord, who, after the murder of her female lover, embraced heterosexuality. Patrick Rosal writes of how he “accidentally” passes as a waiter at the National Book Awards ceremony, and Rafia Zakaria agonizes over her Muslim American identity while traveling through domestic and international airports. Other writers include Trey Ellis, Marc Fitten, Susan Golomb, Margo Jefferson, Achy Obejas, Clarence Page, Sergio Troncoso, Dolen Perkins-Valdez, and Teresa Wiltz.
“In presenting these insightful, provocative life experiences, the editors give inquisitive readers (some of whom may be passing themselves) nutritious food for thought...Sharply drawn reflections on identity fluidity, stereotypes, marginalization, and cultural assumption.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Editors’ Note
College Application Essay #2
Brando Skyhorse
Secret Lives
Achy Obejas
The Inscrutable Alexander Fitten
Marc Fitten
Letter to the Lady Who Mistook Me
for the Help at the National Book Awards—
or Some Meditations on Style
Patrick Rosal
Passing
Teresa Wiltz
Which Lie Did I Tell?
Trey Ellis
Negroland
Margo Jefferson
Slipping into Darkness
Lisa Page
Among the Heterosexuals
M. G. Lord
On Historical Passing and Erasure
Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Stepping on a Star
Gabrielle Bellot
Class Acts: Ways to Be Something You’re Not
Clarence Page
Jewess in Wool Clothing
Susan Golomb
Passing Ambition
Sergio Troncoso
Terror and Passing
Rafia Zakaria
Notes on Contributors
Acknowledgments
- Los Angeles Review of Books, review, 12/15/2017
- WNYC/The Brian Lehrer Show, live interview, 12/1/2017
- WPFW/Business Matters, interview, 11/27/2017
- The Washington Post, Facebook Live interview, 11/21/2017
- AlterNet, excerpt, 11/17/2017
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution, excerpt and video essay, 11/3/2017
- Dame Magazine, excerpt, 11/2/2017
- Literary Hub, excerpt, 11/1/2017
- Bustle, listing in reading roundup, 10/31/2017
- THINK/KERA (Texas Public Radio), interview, 10/30/2017
- Christian Century, excerpt, 10/13/2017
- BLARB/Los Angeles Review of Books (blog), excerpt, 10/10/2017
- The New Yorker, excerpt, 9/22/2017
- Vice, adapted excerpt, 6/22/2017