Conundrum

Published in 1974 by Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, Inc., Conundrum stands as one of the first autobiographical accounts to discuss gender reassignment and helped establish literary frameworks for understanding transgender experience. The book appeared just two years after Morris's gender reassignment surgery, when such openness about transgender experience was unprecedented.

Morris's memoir explores her transition from James Morris, an accomplished soldier in the British military during WWII and daredevil reporter, to the Jan she knew she was since childhood. The book combines personal narrative with philosophical reflection on gender, identity, and the integration of body and spirit. Morris articulates that being transgender "is not a sexual mode or preference. It is not an act of sex at all. It is a passionate, lifelong, ineradicable conviction."

Before her transition, James Morris had established a distinguished career as a travel writer and journalist, including coverage of Edmund Hillary's conquest of Mount Everest in 1953. Morris had achieved high profile status before her transition, making her openness about gender reassignment particularly notable for its time. The book marked her first publication under her new name and demonstrated her continued literary excellence while exploring deeply personal terrain.

The memoir appeared during the early stages of LGBTQ+ rights movements and provided crucial visibility for transgender experience at a time when such stories were rarely told publicly. Morris lived to age 94, dying in 2020, and remained an important voice in both travel writing and transgender advocacy throughout her long career.