-
Cactus Country
- A Boyhood Memoir
- Narrated by: Zoë Bossiere
- Length: 9 hrs
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pre-order for $24.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
A stunningly written literary memoir about gender-fluidity, class, masculinity, and the American Southwest that captures the author’s experience growing up in a trailer park outside of Tucson, Arizona
Cactus Country is a literary coming-of-age memoir tracing the intersections of trans identity, class, and the landscape of the American Southwest. Set in a trailer park outside Tucson, Arizona, the book tells the story of a young gender-fluid person growing up against the dramatic natural backdrop of the Sonoran Desert.
We meet Zoë as an 11-year-old moving through a world of giant beetles, thundering javelinas, and gnarled palo verde trees. Although Zoë lacks the vocabulary to express it, they experience life as a trans boy, spending summers running in a pack of other sunburnt hoodlums and school years fending off classmates’ intrusive questions about the body underneath their baggy clothes.
As Zoë enters adolescence, they are exposed to the hard masculinity that so many of Cactus Country RV Park’s working-class residents embody, and are increasingly troubled by the prospect of growing up to resemble the often sexist, racist, and violent men around them. Meanwhile, outside the trailer park, the fraught intimacies of first love give way to a traumatic sexual experience that further destabilizes Zoë’s sense of self. Zoë stops resisting femininity, but cannot escape the persistent threats associated with moving through the world in a gendered body—or the feeling that their particular relationship to that body is fraught. Still, a spark persists, leading the young adult Zoë to leave Cactus Country for college, ultimately becoming one of very few to embrace whatever awaits beyond.
Equal parts harsh and tender, Cactus Country is an invitation for listeners to consider how we find our place in a world that insists on stark binaries, and a precisely rendered journey of self-determination that will resonate with anyone who’s ever had to fight to be themself.
Related to this topic
-
Hot White Heist 2
- By: Adam Goldman
- Narrated by: Bowen Yang, Jane Lynch, Cynthia Nixon, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 38 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two years after successfully melting down the top secret sperm bank under the Space Needle, the CLITO collective (Community of Lesbians Inclusive To Others) is thriving on their newly acquired private island, Lesbos 2. All is well in their queer utopia. Or is it? Investigative reporter Sarah Keebler (Sarah Steele) is piecing together the crew's previous heist for her bombshell true-crime podcast–and getting dangerously close to the truth.
-
-
Love Bowen Yang
- By Sheena Bambus on 03-15-24
By: Adam Goldman
-
The Picture of Dorian Gray
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: Russell Tovey
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A disturbing tale of a young man's uncanny ability to remain both young and beautiful while descending into a life of heartless debauchery, The Picture of Dorian Gray was considered proof of both Wilde's genius and his perversion. Oscar Wilde's scandalous best seller of 1891 was one of the most damning pieces of evidence used against him in the trial that brought about his downfall.
-
-
A twisted tale of vanity and poisonous people
- By Shantastic on 10-02-19
By: Oscar Wilde
-
Top Secret
- By: Sarina Bowen, Elle Kennedy
- Narrated by: Teddy Hamilton, Christian Fox
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling authors Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy return with their first Male/Male romance in 3 years. LobsterShorts, 21. Jock. Secretly a science geek. Hot AF. SinnerThree, 21. Finance major. Secretly a male dancer. Hot AF. LobsterShorts: So. Here goes. For her birthday, my girlfriend wants…a threesome. SinnerThree: Then you’ve come to the right hookup app. LobsterShorts: Have you done this sort of thing before? With another guy? SinnerThree: All the time. I’m an equal opportunity player. You? LobsterShorts: [crickets!]
-
-
✫✫ 5 Stars ✫✫
- By ❤️Cyndi Marie❤️🎧Audiobook Addicts🎧 on 05-31-19
By: Sarina Bowen, and others
-
Sainted
- By: Jesse H Reign
- Narrated by: Michael Dean, Tim Paige
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He's a bad man, and I don't mean trash like your ex. I mean seriously bad. I mean dangerous. You can tell just by looking at him: black eyes, a menacing scowl, and a nose that's been badly broken in the past. He is my arch-nemesis. My mortal enemy. My singular obsession. I was afraid of him when we met. He kidnapped and chained me to a bed. Me—Damon Alexander Beckett of BeckIT fame and fortune. Well, the joke's on him because I'm going to make it my life's mission to destroy him. But first, I have to survive being his captive.
-
-
Great book, great audiobook!
- By AG on 11-23-23
By: Jesse H Reign
-
Queer West
- How the West Was Fabulous
- By: Brenna Farrell, Zakiya Gibbons, Ellen Horne
- Narrated by: Niecy Nash-Betts
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stories of "The American West" often rely on tired tropes of tough cowboys, but real history is much less straight and narrow and way more interesting. Join host Niecy Nash-Betts for a wild round-up of LGBTQ+ lives that got buried in the dust of popular culture and history, and a look at how queer people continue to shape the West today–from gay rodeo to two-spirit identity to trans truckers.
-
-
A fun and serious story telling
- By Anika paldi on 06-10-24
By: Brenna Farrell, and others
-
Third Girl from the Left
- By: Christine Barker
- Narrated by: Betsy Struxness
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wanting to be a dancer while growing up in a large military family made Christine Barker somewhat of a black sheep, but she followed her dreams to New York City, where—in a moment of almost unbelievable good fortune—she was chosen for the London cast of A Chorus Line. London, and then New York, in the '70s and '80s opened up Christine’s world. The creativity, culture, and nightlife were intoxicating, enough so to compel her older brother Laughlin to join her. Once there, the divorced father, veteran, and corporate lawyer met rising fashion star Perry Ellis.
-
-
A Dancer’s Dream Told with Heart
- By Kathy MacKay on 05-17-23
By: Christine Barker
-
Hot White Heist 2
- By: Adam Goldman
- Narrated by: Bowen Yang, Jane Lynch, Cynthia Nixon, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 38 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two years after successfully melting down the top secret sperm bank under the Space Needle, the CLITO collective (Community of Lesbians Inclusive To Others) is thriving on their newly acquired private island, Lesbos 2. All is well in their queer utopia. Or is it? Investigative reporter Sarah Keebler (Sarah Steele) is piecing together the crew's previous heist for her bombshell true-crime podcast–and getting dangerously close to the truth.
-
-
Love Bowen Yang
- By Sheena Bambus on 03-15-24
By: Adam Goldman
-
The Picture of Dorian Gray
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: Russell Tovey
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A disturbing tale of a young man's uncanny ability to remain both young and beautiful while descending into a life of heartless debauchery, The Picture of Dorian Gray was considered proof of both Wilde's genius and his perversion. Oscar Wilde's scandalous best seller of 1891 was one of the most damning pieces of evidence used against him in the trial that brought about his downfall.
-
-
A twisted tale of vanity and poisonous people
- By Shantastic on 10-02-19
By: Oscar Wilde
-
Top Secret
- By: Sarina Bowen, Elle Kennedy
- Narrated by: Teddy Hamilton, Christian Fox
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling authors Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy return with their first Male/Male romance in 3 years. LobsterShorts, 21. Jock. Secretly a science geek. Hot AF. SinnerThree, 21. Finance major. Secretly a male dancer. Hot AF. LobsterShorts: So. Here goes. For her birthday, my girlfriend wants…a threesome. SinnerThree: Then you’ve come to the right hookup app. LobsterShorts: Have you done this sort of thing before? With another guy? SinnerThree: All the time. I’m an equal opportunity player. You? LobsterShorts: [crickets!]
-
-
✫✫ 5 Stars ✫✫
- By ❤️Cyndi Marie❤️🎧Audiobook Addicts🎧 on 05-31-19
By: Sarina Bowen, and others
-
Sainted
- By: Jesse H Reign
- Narrated by: Michael Dean, Tim Paige
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He's a bad man, and I don't mean trash like your ex. I mean seriously bad. I mean dangerous. You can tell just by looking at him: black eyes, a menacing scowl, and a nose that's been badly broken in the past. He is my arch-nemesis. My mortal enemy. My singular obsession. I was afraid of him when we met. He kidnapped and chained me to a bed. Me—Damon Alexander Beckett of BeckIT fame and fortune. Well, the joke's on him because I'm going to make it my life's mission to destroy him. But first, I have to survive being his captive.
-
-
Great book, great audiobook!
- By AG on 11-23-23
By: Jesse H Reign
-
Queer West
- How the West Was Fabulous
- By: Brenna Farrell, Zakiya Gibbons, Ellen Horne
- Narrated by: Niecy Nash-Betts
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stories of "The American West" often rely on tired tropes of tough cowboys, but real history is much less straight and narrow and way more interesting. Join host Niecy Nash-Betts for a wild round-up of LGBTQ+ lives that got buried in the dust of popular culture and history, and a look at how queer people continue to shape the West today–from gay rodeo to two-spirit identity to trans truckers.
-
-
A fun and serious story telling
- By Anika paldi on 06-10-24
By: Brenna Farrell, and others
-
Third Girl from the Left
- By: Christine Barker
- Narrated by: Betsy Struxness
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wanting to be a dancer while growing up in a large military family made Christine Barker somewhat of a black sheep, but she followed her dreams to New York City, where—in a moment of almost unbelievable good fortune—she was chosen for the London cast of A Chorus Line. London, and then New York, in the '70s and '80s opened up Christine’s world. The creativity, culture, and nightlife were intoxicating, enough so to compel her older brother Laughlin to join her. Once there, the divorced father, veteran, and corporate lawyer met rising fashion star Perry Ellis.
-
-
A Dancer’s Dream Told with Heart
- By Kathy MacKay on 05-17-23
By: Christine Barker
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Exhibit
- A Novel
- By: R. O. Kwon
- Narrated by: Ami Park, Sue Jean Kim
- Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At a lavish party in the hills outside of San Francisco, Jin Han meets Lidija Jung and nothing will ever be the same for either woman. A brilliant young photographer, Jin is at a crossroads in her work, in her marriage to her college love Philip, and in who she is and who she wants to be. Lidija is an alluring, injured world-class ballerina on hiatus from her ballet company under mysterious circumstances. Drawn to each other by their intense artistic drives, the two women talk all night.
By: R. O. Kwon
-
Kittentits
- A Novel
- By: Holly Wilson
- Narrated by: Stephanie Willing
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1992, and ten-year-old Molly is tired of living in the fire-rotted, nun-haunted House of Friends: a Semi-Cooperative Living Community of Peace Faith(s) in Action with her formerly blind dad and their grieving housemate Evelyn. But when twenty-three-year-old Jeanie, a dirt bike-riding ex-con with a shady past, moves in, she quickly becomes the object of Molly’s adoration. She might treat Molly terribly, but they both have dead moms and potty mouths, so naturally Molly is the moth to Jeanie’s scuzzy flame.
By: Holly Wilson
-
How We Are
- The How to Live Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Vincent Deary
- Narrated by: Matthew Brenher
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How We Are is an astonishing debut and the first part of the monumental How to Live trilogy, a profound and ambitious work that gets to the heart of what it means to be human: how we are, how we break, and how we mend. This first audiobook explores the power of habit and the difficulty of change. We live most of our lives automatically, in small worlds of comfortable routine - what author Vincent Deary calls Act One.
By: Vincent Deary
-
Triple Sec
- A Novel
- By: TJ Alexander
- Narrated by: Jeremy Carlisle Parker
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a bartender at Terror & Virtue, a swanky New York City cocktail lounge known for its romantic atmosphere and Insta-worthy drinks, Mel has witnessed plenty of disastrous dates. That, coupled with her own romantic life being in shambles, has Mel convinced love doesn’t exist. Everything changes when Bebe walks into the bar. She’s beautiful, funny, knows her whiskeys—and is happily married to her partner, Kade. Mel’s resigned to forget the whole thing, but Bebe makes her a unique offer: since she and Kade have an open marriage, she’s interested in taking Mel on a date.
-
-
The most accurate portrayal of Polyamory I've seen in a while
- By Pikushio on 06-06-24
By: TJ Alexander
-
Housemates
- A Novel
- By: Emma Copley Eisenberg
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Bernie replies to Leah’s ad for a new housemate in Philadelphia, the two begin an intense and defiantly uncategorizable friendship based on a mutual belief in their art, and one another. Both aspire to capture the world around them: Leah through her writing; Bernie through her photography. After Bernie’s former photography professor, the renowned yet tarnished Daniel Dunn, dies and leaves her a complicated inheritance, Leah volunteers to accompany Bernie to his home in rural Pennsylvania.
-
-
Gratitude for some good queer love
- By EJW on 06-02-24
-
Here for the Wrong Reasons
- By: Annabel Paulsen, Lydia Wang
- Narrated by: Mara Wilson, Lindsey Dorcus
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Krystin knows exactly what she wants: a husband, a horse, and a place to hang all her competitive rodeo blue ribbons. But when none of the eligible bachelors in Montana end up being right for her, she turns to reality TV. On Hopelessly Devoted, Krystin will compete against dozens of other women for the heart of this season’s Hopeless Romantic, Josh Rosen. She’s determined to win the perfect life she came here for—if she can just ignore the glossy brunette whose crimson smile gives her goosebumps.
-
-
A sapphic rom com with heart!
- By Cindy Bruckner on 06-05-24
By: Annabel Paulsen, and others
-
Exhibit
- A Novel
- By: R. O. Kwon
- Narrated by: Ami Park, Sue Jean Kim
- Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At a lavish party in the hills outside of San Francisco, Jin Han meets Lidija Jung and nothing will ever be the same for either woman. A brilliant young photographer, Jin is at a crossroads in her work, in her marriage to her college love Philip, and in who she is and who she wants to be. Lidija is an alluring, injured world-class ballerina on hiatus from her ballet company under mysterious circumstances. Drawn to each other by their intense artistic drives, the two women talk all night.
By: R. O. Kwon
-
Kittentits
- A Novel
- By: Holly Wilson
- Narrated by: Stephanie Willing
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1992, and ten-year-old Molly is tired of living in the fire-rotted, nun-haunted House of Friends: a Semi-Cooperative Living Community of Peace Faith(s) in Action with her formerly blind dad and their grieving housemate Evelyn. But when twenty-three-year-old Jeanie, a dirt bike-riding ex-con with a shady past, moves in, she quickly becomes the object of Molly’s adoration. She might treat Molly terribly, but they both have dead moms and potty mouths, so naturally Molly is the moth to Jeanie’s scuzzy flame.
By: Holly Wilson
-
How We Are
- The How to Live Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Vincent Deary
- Narrated by: Matthew Brenher
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How We Are is an astonishing debut and the first part of the monumental How to Live trilogy, a profound and ambitious work that gets to the heart of what it means to be human: how we are, how we break, and how we mend. This first audiobook explores the power of habit and the difficulty of change. We live most of our lives automatically, in small worlds of comfortable routine - what author Vincent Deary calls Act One.
By: Vincent Deary
-
Triple Sec
- A Novel
- By: TJ Alexander
- Narrated by: Jeremy Carlisle Parker
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a bartender at Terror & Virtue, a swanky New York City cocktail lounge known for its romantic atmosphere and Insta-worthy drinks, Mel has witnessed plenty of disastrous dates. That, coupled with her own romantic life being in shambles, has Mel convinced love doesn’t exist. Everything changes when Bebe walks into the bar. She’s beautiful, funny, knows her whiskeys—and is happily married to her partner, Kade. Mel’s resigned to forget the whole thing, but Bebe makes her a unique offer: since she and Kade have an open marriage, she’s interested in taking Mel on a date.
-
-
The most accurate portrayal of Polyamory I've seen in a while
- By Pikushio on 06-06-24
By: TJ Alexander
-
Housemates
- A Novel
- By: Emma Copley Eisenberg
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Bernie replies to Leah’s ad for a new housemate in Philadelphia, the two begin an intense and defiantly uncategorizable friendship based on a mutual belief in their art, and one another. Both aspire to capture the world around them: Leah through her writing; Bernie through her photography. After Bernie’s former photography professor, the renowned yet tarnished Daniel Dunn, dies and leaves her a complicated inheritance, Leah volunteers to accompany Bernie to his home in rural Pennsylvania.
-
-
Gratitude for some good queer love
- By EJW on 06-02-24
-
Here for the Wrong Reasons
- By: Annabel Paulsen, Lydia Wang
- Narrated by: Mara Wilson, Lindsey Dorcus
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Krystin knows exactly what she wants: a husband, a horse, and a place to hang all her competitive rodeo blue ribbons. But when none of the eligible bachelors in Montana end up being right for her, she turns to reality TV. On Hopelessly Devoted, Krystin will compete against dozens of other women for the heart of this season’s Hopeless Romantic, Josh Rosen. She’s determined to win the perfect life she came here for—if she can just ignore the glossy brunette whose crimson smile gives her goosebumps.
-
-
A sapphic rom com with heart!
- By Cindy Bruckner on 06-05-24
By: Annabel Paulsen, and others
-
Looking for a Sign
- A Novel
- By: Susie Dumond
- Narrated by: Kimberly M. Wetherell
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Reeling from a breakup with her long-term partner, Gray—an optimistic lesbian Aries—relocates to New Orleans for a new job. Gray wants to meet someone, settle down, and build the loving, accepting family she’s always wanted, but having been out of the dating scene for a decade, she has no idea where to start. After visiting an iconic astrologer, Gray and her best friend, Cherry, draw up a dramatic scheme: Gray will go on a date with someone of each zodiac sign to test their compatibility and get a jump start on creating the queer family of her dreams.
By: Susie Dumond
-
The Year of Living Constitutionally
- One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Constitution's Original Meaning
- By: A.J. Jacobs
- Narrated by: A.J. Jacobs
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Is the Constitution a living document that needs to evolve with the times? Or should we try to divine the original meaning that our Founding Fathers intended, and hew to that as strictly as possible, as present-day originalists suggest? In The Year of Living Constitutionally, A.J. Jacobs tries to get inside the minds of the Founding Fathers by living as closely as possible to the original meaning of the Constitution.
-
-
Enjoyed this, but…
- By William on 05-31-24
By: A.J. Jacobs
-
Candy Darling
- Dreamer, Icon, Superstar
- By: Cynthia Carr
- Narrated by: Justin Vivian Bond
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Growing up on Long Island, lonely and quiet and queer, she was enchanted by Hollywood starlets like Kim Novak. She found her turn in New York’s early Off-Off-Broadway theater scene, in Warhol’s films Flesh and Women in Revolt, and at the famed nightclub Max's Kansas City. She inspired songs by Lou Reed and the Rolling Stones. She became friends with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, borrowed a dress from Lauren Hutton, posed for Richard Avedon, and performed alongside Tennessee Williams in his own play.
-
-
Thee candy darling’s bibile
- By Anile on 04-15-24
By: Cynthia Carr
-
The Last Murder at the End of the World
- A Novel
- By: Stuart Turton
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Outside the island there is nothing: the world was destroyed by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched. On the island: it is idyllic. One hundred and twenty-two villagers and three scientists, living in peaceful harmony. The villagers are content to fish, farm and feast, to obey their nightly curfew, to do what they're told by the scientists. Until, to the horror of the islanders, one of their beloved scientists is found brutally stabbed to death.
-
-
So good!!!
- By Alyssa on 05-28-24
By: Stuart Turton
-
In My Time of Dying
- How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife
- By: Sebastian Junger
- Narrated by: Sebastian Junger
- Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For years as an award-winning war reporter, Sebastian Junger traveled to many front lines and frequently put his life at risk. And yet, the closest he ever came to death was the summer of 2020 while spending a quiet afternoon at the New England home he shared with his wife and two young children. Crippled by abdominal pain, Junger was rushed to the hospital by ambulance. Once there, he began slipping away. As blackness encroached, he was visited by his dead father, inviting Junger to join him.
-
-
God and religion
- By K. Anderson on 05-22-24
By: Sebastian Junger
-
I Hope This Finds You Well
- A Novel
- By: Natalie Sue
- Narrated by: Nasim Pedrad
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As far as Jolene is concerned, her interactions with her colleagues should start and end with her official duties as an admin for Supershops, Inc. Unfortunately, her irritating, incompetent coworkers don’t seem to understand the importance of boundaries. Her secret to survival? She vents her grievances in petty email postscripts, then changes the text color to white so no one can see. That is until one of her secret messages is exposed. Her punishment: sensitivity training (led by the suspiciously friendly HR guy, Cliff) and rigorous email restrictions.
-
-
Slow burn that doesn’t deliver
- By Simon Kay on 05-26-24
By: Natalie Sue
Love Books? You'll Love Audible.
Transform your day
Replace endless scrolling with endless listening. Chores can be fun.
Listen everywhere
Download titles to listen offline, wherever you are in the world.
Carry your entire Library
Your stories go where you go. Audiobooks don’t weigh a thing.
Listen and learn
Discover stories that can change your mind, your well-being, and your life.
Reach your reading goals
You can’t turn pages while you drive—but you can press play.
Find your niche
WIth thousands of titles to explore, there’s something for everyone.