The Distance

The Distance

Share this post

The Distance
The Distance
Stories Worthy of Respect in a Democratic Society: The Novelization of TERF Island
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

Stories Worthy of Respect in a Democratic Society: The Novelization of TERF Island

A review of Simon Edge's fiction

Matt Osborne's avatar
Matt Osborne
Jan 15, 2024
∙ Paid
34

Share this post

The Distance
The Distance
Stories Worthy of Respect in a Democratic Society: The Novelization of TERF Island
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
5
Share

Buy the book at Amazon

Simon Edge began commenting on ‘gender identity’ in 2021 with The End of the World is Flat. Published in June 2023, his newest novel In the Beginning recycles the same characters with a new lead, expanding his theme with a new story, borrowing truths stranger than fiction to write uncanny speculation about the present.

Publishing has been an especially harsh environment for wrongthink lately, especially gender-related wrongthink. In order to tell stories worthy of respect in a democratic society, Edge has substituted zany beliefs that are not yet in fashion for those that are, circumventing the sensitivity readers. It is not quite as courageous or clever as Pramoedya Ananta Toer smuggling his fiction out of the Buru Island prison camp, but it will serve a similar purpose.

In both novels, Edge shows FIBs (Fashionably Irrational Beliefs) taking over everything, first by design and the second time by accident. Edge takes the term FIB from British Indian writer Ghurwinder Bhogal, who explai…

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to The Distance to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 LGB United
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More