Going Both Ways

by Phil Fragasso

After a prolonged rant about how easy women have it, Patrick awakens as a woman (Trish). But rather than staying a woman, he’s male one day and female the next. The male and female characters share a single mindset – so Patrick is always in Trish’s head and vice versa.

As much as Patrick tries to keep his situation private, he eventually becomes a worldwide sensation sought after by luminaries as diverse as the Pope and Hugh Hefner. While attending a party, Patrick meets a rap superstar named Gi-Slam. Their connection is immediate and powerful.

Gi-Slam’s onstage biker-bitch character contrasts with her genuine girl-next-door persona (Gigi). Gigi is bi-sexual and she has a relationship with both Trish and Patrick. As the relationship with Gigi deepens, Trish takes her leave and Patrick experiences true love for the first time.

276 pages, Paperback

Published March 18, 2016

About the author

I sold my first article at the age of 16. Since then I have written and published a wide variety of books, articles and essays.

After 25 years as an executive in the financial services industry - and a dozen more years split between the high-tech industry and the public sector - I left to pursue endeavors that were more fulfilling personally and more contributory on a societal level. Today I focus my time on writing and teaching.

Reviews

[Joshua · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are times when I realize that a book is not for me and this is one of those times. By the end of the book I was aghast that it had reached publication.
The basic premise that a misogynistic male goes to sleep after "daring God" to change him into a woman, and wakes up as a woman, had great potential. Unfortunately, Going Both Ways wastes that potential by creating a very unlikable protagonist who never stops being an overgrown frat boy. There is no change in the character despite living every other day as the opposite gender, until after his female alternate poses for Playboy (about 75% of the way through the book) and even that is a very superficial change.
The constant references to "God" from a supposedly atheistic person were weak. The characters were unremarkable and outside of the protagonist, flat and lifeless. The convenient contrivance of the gender switching going away was predictable and trite.
I was completely unimpressed with this book and absolutely stunned when I read the author's note to find that he's a published author and teaches creative writing.

[Jeremy Reppy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea of a man being transformed into a woman and having to deal with the consequences was an intriguing storyline and the reason I requested to review this novel. I thought the author did a good job of handling the switch between male and female personas and did a good job of showing how spending time as Trish made Patrick rethink his chauvinist and misogynist behavior and views. I really did not like the author's decision to have Patrick/Trish go public and stage a big publicity blitz for fame and fortune. Or the Patrick/Trish might be an alien or threat to national security angle involving the FBI and other government agencies. I would rather have had Patrick re-evaluate his life through exploring relationships (platonic, sexual, etc.) with those around him/her. However, the author redeems himself with the relationship between Patrick and Gigi. Overall, a decent read -- 3.5 stars.

I received a copy of the ebook from Reading Alley in exchange for a review.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a bizarre book, the whole concept intrigued me and the first chapter drew me in immediately. Then I spent my time either laughing, shaking my head in despair or screaming at Patrick aka Trish.

Following a conversation with his sister who begged for him to understand the mind of a woman Patrick awakes as a female. The way the author gets into the mindsets of both male and female is very entertaining as they alternate.
Patrick is such an arrogant, sexist, selfish jerk but can he soften as Trish .. the exploration of sexual relationships plays a very large part in this book as we delve into the thought processes. It is an awakening and once Gigi arrives it becomes intense.
A book that held my interest but possibly left me more confused by the end than I was at the beginning. Certainly worth a look but won’t be to everybody’s taste.
Thanks to the author and Pump Up Your Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Recipe Fairy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely, truly enjoyed this book! It was light-hearted and even funny at times and kept me completely gripped from beginning to end! I was completely compelled to finish this book in one sitting and just couldn't put it down. While I've read books with this theme before, none of them have been brave enough to actually dive into the sexual encounters they might encounter living as the opposite sex. Even though it does, this book isn't raunchy, the sexual content is kept light and actually pretty funny. The storyline is rich, the dialogue is perfect and the characters are pretty complex and well developed. I really, truly enjoyed this book, and am very curious to read some more of this author's work!

[M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story of body switching. I won this in a contest and it was a good read. Thank you!