The All of It
Shortlisted for The Age Book of the Year
If you’re alive, you can do anything.
If you’re reading this, you’re not dead.
What’s it like to grow up in an Aussie family that has a man of every flavour? A bank robber, an infamous sports umpire, several different breeds of drug addict (collect the whole set!), a roster of crafty swindlers, an attempted murderer and the local town drunk. And what if you had a secret so ghastly that you feared it made you more disgraceful than all of your roguish ancestors combined?
Seven years ago, Ben was a millennial with a death wish. He was loveless, overweight, crashing in his parents’ rumpus room and blinking his life away in a haze of marijuana vape. Then one day Ben decided to change everything – starting with the Ben bit. Becoming Cadance was more than a gender transition: it was a transition in every way, fear to acceptance, from self-loathing to love, anger to kindness. She was determined to experience the all of it.
Written with dazzling creativity and exuberance, The All of It is a wild coming-of-gender memoir like no other. Tender, tragic, hilarious and life-affirming, it will leave you understanding a little more about trans people, rural Australia, family, millennials and the beautiful contradictions of our kaleidoscopic world.
Shortlisted for The Age Book of the Year 2022
Buy The All of It (Australia)
Praise for this story
“Cadance Bell is the human equivalent of Halley’s Comet: a once-in-a-lifetime blazing talent.”
Benjamin Law
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“Laugh-out-loud funny and often moving… Bell is witty and candid, and I suspect we’ll read a lot more from her.”
The Guardian
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“A glorious, generous and vital read.”
Craig Silvey
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“This is a beautiful, generous gift to the world… I can’t even begin to say how much I loved this memoir.”
Hayley Scrivenor
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“Madcap and bruised and bruising and gorgeous! And fucking funny!! A perfect book.”
Beejay Silcox
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“In The All of It: A bogan rhapsody, Cadance Bell gives us multitudes. This memoir is raw, vulnerable, authentic and full of heart.”
Books + Publishing
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“Truly the book all of Australia needs.”
Star Observer
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“A book for everyone… an unmissable read, and I am telling, not recommending, telling you to read this book. I promise you will not regret it.”
Opus Magazine
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Yeah, I'm one of those weird millennials who wants to write multiple memoirs... but only with support from lovely people like you!