I Am My Own Wife

A soft-spoken transvestite wanting nothing more than to live as a hausfrau, Charlotte von Mahlsdorf instead was caught up in the most harrowing dramas of 20th century Europe, surviving both the Nazis and the Communists. I Am My Own Wife is her exquisitely written autobiography where she reveals her lifelong pursuit of sexual liberty. The memoirs of a transvestite Berliner, the story of the wonderful Grnderzeit museum, a look at German culture from the point of view of a permanent outsider, Charlottes tale, like her life, is a surprising and provocative weave of sex, politics, and history.With the success of a new play about Charlotte, hailed by The New York Times as the "e;most stirring new work to appear on Broadway this fall,"e; her story is reaching an entirely new readership of enthusiastic theater fans.Von Mahlsdorf was also the subject of a documentary, I Am My Own Woman (1993), directed by Rosa von Praunheim.