“Despite being unapologetically queer, is a book that deserves to break out of the LGBT speciality bookshops . . . Lawlor’s writing is evocative and urgent . . . and very funny” – Observer

“Playful and sexy, Lawlor’s novel is a hymn to the pleasures of gender fluidity – but also a tribute to queer theory, LGBT communities and to reading itself. “- Guardian

It’s 1993 and Paul Polydoris tends bar at the only gay club in a university town thrumming with politics and partying. He studies queer theory, has a dyke best friend, makes zines, and is a flaneur with a rich dating life. But Paul’s also got a secret: he’s a shapeshifter.

Oscillating wildly from Riot Grrrl to leather cub, Paul transforms his body and his gender at will as he crosses the country––a journey and adventure through the deep queer archives of struggle and pleasure. Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl is a riotous, razor-sharp bildungsroman whose hero/ine wends their way through a world gutted by loss, pulsing with music, and opening into an array of intimacy and connections.