In this book on queer identity, Brazilian writer Alexandre Vidal Porto lays bare the complex relationship between patient and therapist, as well as the psychotherapist’s own torments in the course of analysis.
On the couch is Sergio Y, an ‘articulate, intelligent and confused’ 17-year-old boy who is unhappy without knowing why; therapist Dr Armando is one of Sao Paolo’s most renowned professionals. One day, Sergio Y abruptly ends the therapy and disappears. Eventually we find out that Sergio Y has fled to New York and become a woman.
Written in the first person, the novel is an especially eloquent exploration of the thoughts, hopes and anxieties of a therapist at work and afterwards. Equally important is the theme of what makes a transsexual transsexual and the subterranean process of self-discovery that will lead the protagonist to embrace his identity. The prose is as dry and precise as the notes of a clinician and it’s hardly likely that this book by the Harvard-trained lawyer will make for a runaway best-seller. For those interested by a refreshing approach to fiction and a jumble of intelligent thoughts on psychoanalysis, gender and happiness, however, Sergio Y is worth the read.
