Works by
T Cooper
(Writer)

T Cooper holds an MFA from Columbia University, and was a recent resident at The MacDowell Colony, and a finalist for the 2004 Koret Young Writer on Jewish Themes Award—for her in-progress novel about early 20th century Russian immigrants to the U.S. In younger years, T doubled as "T-Rok," founding member of the all-star Backdoor Boys performance troupe. Finally, and probably most importantly, T recently visited Dollywood. -- from Saints & Sinners

• Some of the Parts (2002) -- Finalist 2002 Lambda Literary Awards for Transgender/Bisexual
  In sparse, evocative prose, T Cooper tells the story of four splintered lives: Isak is a "gender freak" to the world at large. Taylor is so simultaneously perfect, yet useless, that she is paralyzed. Her mother Arlene is lonely and pill-popping, while Arlene's brother Charlie faces the unexpected-even unwanted-prospect of being healthy with HIV. Fractured lives in various forms of exile eventually join to re-forge a definition of family from the ashes.

• A Fictional History of the United States (with Huge Chunks Missing) (2006), Edited with Adam Mansbach
  History is distorted the moment it's recorded--and in these politically dishonest times, challenging the stories we're told is more important than ever. In this groundbreaking anthology of original fiction, a diverse group of America's best writers takes on the task of creating counter-narratives to mainstream American history. Here are some of the moments and the people left out of the textbooks. Here is what else happened--on the margins of American life, and in between the lines of our history books.
  
  A Fictional History of the United States with Huge Chunks Missing brings together an eclectic array of celebrated authors and cartoonists to create a patchwork, anecdotal history of this complicated country. From the Chinese discovery of America in 1426 to the new McCarthyism of a post-9-11 world, this collection recasts everything from the moon landing to the Lindbergh kidnapping, westward expansion to the sexual proclivities of Civil War officers. Riveting, inventive, and politically vital, this anthology picks up--and yanks on--America's supposed commitment to seeking the truth . . . even if that truth is revealed in fiction.
  
  With original stories and artwork by Adam Mansbach, Alexander Chee, Amy Bloom, Benjamin Weissman., Daniel Alarcon, Darin Strauss, David Rees, Felicia Luna Lemus, Kate Bornstein, Keith Knight, Neal Pollack, Paul La Farge, Ron Kovic, Sarah Schulman, T Cooper, Tommy O'Malley, and Valerie Miner

• Lipshitz Six, or Two Angry Blondes (2006) -- Nominated 2006 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction
  In Lipshitz Six, or Two Angry Blondes, author T Cooper chronicles the unusual history of the Lipshitz family, Jewish refugees who narrowly escape the bloody Russian pogroms of 1903. Upon landing at Ellis Island, Esther and Hersh Lipshitz lose their uncharacteristically blond-haired, blue-eyed son Reuven. Circumstances eventually force them to give up their fruitless search for Reuven and to join a relative living in the Texas panhandle. However, Esther never stops pondering the fate of her lost son, and when she sees a picture of the blond, blue-eyed Charles Lindbergh after his 1927 transatlantic flight, she becomes convinced that the aviator is her grown son Reuven. Esther’s obsession with Lindbergh (Reuven) slowly destroys those around her and will leave far-reaching effects on the entire Lipshitz family.
  
  In 2002 in New York City, we encounter the character T Cooper, the last living Lipshitz, who has received an unsolicited box from his estranged mother. In it, he finds clippings and letters to Charles Lindbergh and his family, all once carefully preserved by his great-grandmother Esther. When he is forced back to Texas to bury his suddenly and tragically deceased parents, T finds himself the inheritor of a family history filled with loose ends, factual errors, and maniacal behavior. An ex–literary golden boy who has quit writing to pursue a career as a bar mitzvah entertainer who impersonates the rapper Eminem, T struggles to make sense of all that came before him and—in light of his wife’s desire to have a baby—what legacy he might leave behind as well.