# In the Darkroom

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{{Short description|2016 book by Susan Faludi}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2017}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox book
| name          = In the Darkroom
| image         = Susan Faludi - In the Darkroom.jpg
| border        = yes
| alt           = 
| caption       = Cover of the first edition
| author        = [Susan Faludi](/source/Susan_Faludi)
| illustrator   = 
| cover_artist  = 
| country       = United States
| language      = English
| publisher     = [Metropolitan/Henry Holt](/source/Henry_Holt_and_Company)<ref name=kirkusreview>{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/susan-faludi/in-the-darkroom/|title=In the Darkroom - Kirkus Review|work=Kirkus Reviews|date=April 19, 2016|accessdate=June 25, 2017}}</ref>
| release_date  = June 14, 2016
| media_type    = Print ([hardback](/source/hardback) and [paperback](/source/paperback)), [e-book](/source/e-book), [audiobook](/source/audiobook)<ref name=publishersweekly>{{cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-8050-8908-0|title=Nonfiction Book Review: In the Darkroom|work=Publishers Weekly|date=May 2, 2016|accessdate=June 25, 2017}}</ref>
| pages         = 432
| isbn          = 978-0-8050-8908-0
| isbn_note     = 
| dewey         = 
| congress      = 
| oclc          = 
| awards        = [Kirkus Prize](/source/Kirkus_Reviews) (2016)
}}

'''''In the Darkroom''''' is a [memoir](/source/memoir) by [Susan Faludi](/source/Susan_Faludi) that was first published on June 14, 2016.<ref name=kirkusreview/> The memoir centers on the life of Faludi's father, who came out as [transgender](/source/transgender) and underwent [sex reassignment surgery](/source/sex_reassignment_surgery) at the age of 76.<ref name=publishersweekly/><ref name=nytreview/> It won the 2016 [Kirkus Prize](/source/Kirkus_Reviews) for nonfiction<ref name=kirkus2016>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/11/03/500540635/jason-reynolds-c-e-morgan-and-susan-faludi-win-2016-kirkus-prize|title=Jason Reynolds, C.E. Morgan And Susan Faludi Win 2016 Kirkus Prize|date=November 3, 2016|work=NPR|first=Colin|last=Dwyer}}</ref> and was a finalist for the 2017 [Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography](/source/Pulitzer_Prize_for_Biography_or_Autobiography).<ref name=pulitzer>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/2017-pulitzer-prize-winners/2017/04/10/c0953294-1e27-11e7-be2a-3a1fb24d4671_story.html|title=2017 Pulitzer Prize winners|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=April 10, 2017|accessdate=June 26, 2017}}</ref>

==Synopsis==
In 2004, [Pulitzer Prize](/source/Pulitzer_Prize_for_Explanatory_Reporting)-winning journalist Susan Faludi learned that her 76-year-old estranged father had undergone sex reassignment surgery and now went by the name Stefánie. This revelation led Faludi to reunite with Stefánie in Hungary, and the memoir documents Faludi's subsequent investigation into her father's life, particularly the years Stefánie spent growing up as a Hungarian Jew during [World War II](/source/World_War_II).<ref name=publishersweekly/> Faludi also examines her relationship with her father, her father's [transition](/source/transitioning_(transgender)), and explores the issues of gender identity and discrimination.<ref name=nytreview/><ref name=claire/>

==Reception==
===Critical response===
''In the Darkroom'' was critically acclaimed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/31/fashion/susan-faludi-father-in-the-darkroom.html|title=My Father, the Shapeshifter|work=The New York Times|date=December 31, 2016|first=Peter|last=Haldeman}}</ref> ''[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)''{{'}} [Michelle Goldberg](/source/Michelle_Goldberg) described the memoir as a "rich, arresting and ultimately generous investigation of [Faludi's] father",<ref name=nytreview>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/19/books/review/susan-faludis-in-the-darkroom.html|title=Susan Faludi's 'In the Darkroom'|work=The New York Times|date=June 16, 2016|first=Michelle|last=Goldberg|authorlink=Michelle Goldberg}}</ref> while ''[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)''{{'s}} [Claire Harman](/source/Claire_Harman_(writer)) called it a "remarkable, moving and courageous book".<ref name=claire>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jul/12/in-the-darkroom-susan-faludi-review-trans|title=In the Darkroom by Susan Faludi review – my father, the woman|work=The Guardian|date=July 12, 2016|first=Claire|last=Harman|authorlink=Claire Harman (writer)}}</ref> Also writing for ''The Guardian'', [Rachel Cooke](/source/Rachel_Cooke) concluded, "Faludi's book, reticent and elegant and extremely clever, will not be to everyone’s taste. But this doesn’t preclude it from being an out-and-out masterpiece of its kind."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jun/19/susan-faludi-in-the-darkroom-review-elegant-masterpiece-identity-gender-nazi-hungary|title=In the Darkroom review – an elegant masterpiece|work=The Guardian|date=June 19, 2016|first=Rachel|last=Cooke|authorlink=Rachel Cooke}}</ref>

[NPR](/source/NPR){{'s}} [Maureen Corrigan](/source/Maureen_Corrigan) noted that the book "seems like especially pertinent reading in these, our own dark times, when questions of identity keep coming to the fore, as matters of life and death."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2016/06/15/482156238/in-the-darkroom-explores-the-concept-of-identity-both-fixed-and-fluid|title='In The Darkroom' Explores The Concept Of Identity — Both Fixed And Fluid|work=NPR|date=June 15, 2016|first=Maureen|last=Corrigan|authorlink=Maureen Corrigan}}</ref> ''[Entertainment Weekly](/source/Entertainment_Weekly)''{{'s}} Tina Jordan gave the memoir an "A−" rating, concluding: "It’s a gripping and honest personal journey—bolstered by reams of research—that ultimately transcends family and addresses much bigger questions of identity and reinvention."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://ew.com/article/2016/06/10/in-the-darkroom-susan-faludi-review/|title='In the Darkroom' by Susan Faludi: EW review|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=June 10, 2016|first=Tina|last=Jordan}}</ref> According to ''The New York Times''{{'}} Jennifer Senior, Faludi "challenges some of our most fundamental assumptions about transsexuality",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/13/books/review-susan-faludi-in-the-darkroom.html|title=Review: Father Was a Vicious Bully. Then He Became a Woman.|work=The New York Times|first=Jennifer|last=Senior|date=June 12, 2016}}</ref> although ''[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)''{{'s}} [Hanna Rosin](/source/Hanna_Rosin) felt that Faludi "never quite completes" the "broader counter-narrative about identity" which she starts.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/grappling-with-feelings-about-dad-after-he-becomes-a-she/2016/06/16/c11002ee-1883-11e6-aa55-670cabef46e0_story.html|title=Grappling with feelings about Dad after he becomes a she|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=Hanna|last=Rosin|authorlink=Hanna Rosin|date=June 16, 2016}}</ref>

In a rare mediocre review, ''[USA Today](/source/USA_Today)''{{'s}} Sharon Peters gave the book two stars out of four, concluding: "In the end, though, ''In the Darkroom'' fails to shed real light."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2016/06/18/in-the-darkroom-susan-faludi-book-review/85648278/|title=Susan Faludi investigates her dad's sex change in 'Darkroom'|work=USA Today|date=June 18, 2016|first=Sharon|last=Peters}}</ref>

===Accolades===
''In the Darkroom'' won the 2016 [Kirkus Prize](/source/Kirkus_Reviews) in the nonfiction category<ref name=kirkus2016/> and was a finalist for the 2017 [Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography](/source/Pulitzer_Prize_for_Biography_or_Autobiography).<ref name=pulitzer/> The book was also selected by the editors of ''[The New York Times Book Review](/source/The_New_York_Times_Book_Review)'' as one of the 10 Best Books of 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/books/review/best-books.html|title=The 10 Best Books of 2016|work=The New York Times|date=December 1, 2016|author=((Editors of The New York Times Book Review))}}</ref> [Laura Miller](/source/Laura_Miller_(writer)) of ''[Slate](/source/Slate_(magazine))'' named it one of her 10 Favorite Books of 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2016/12/best_books_of_2016_from_laura_miller.html|title=Laura Miller's 10 Favorite Books of 2016|first=Laura|last=Miller|date=December 5, 2016|work=Slate|authorlink=Laura Miller (writer)}}</ref> ''In the Darkroom'' also found a wide international audience and has been translated into multiple foreign languages, including Spanish, Italian, German, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Hungarian, Turkish, Dutch, and Chinese.<ref>[https://www.goodreads.com/work/editions/49619483-in-the-darkroom Selected Foreign Language Editions of ''In the Darkroom'']</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[http://susanfaludi.com/in-the-darkroom.html Susanfaludi.com: In the Darkroom]
*[https://www.c-span.org/video/?417268-9/susan-faludi-discusses-in-darkroom Presentation by Faludi on ''In the Darkroom'', November 20, 2016], [C-SPAN](/source/C-SPAN)
*[https://www.c-span.org/video/?452213-2/in-dark-room Presentation by Faludi on ''In the Darkroom'', September 29, 2018], [C-SPAN](/source/C-SPAN)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:In The Darkroom}}
Category:2010s LGBTQ literature
Category:2016 non-fiction books
Category:American memoirs
Category:Biographies about LGBTQ people
Category:Books by Susan Faludi
Category:English-language non-fiction books
Category:Kirkus Prize–winning works
Category:LGBTQ literature in the United States
Category:Metropolitan Books books
Category:Transgender non-fiction books
Category:Books about trans women

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [In the Darkroom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Darkroom) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Darkroom?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.