Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sue
{{Short description|Short story by Charlie Jane Anders}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox short story
|name = Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sue
| image =
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| translator =
|author = Charlie Jane Anders
|country = United States
|language = English
|series =
|genre = Science fiction short story
|publication_type =
|published_in = Boston Review
|publisher =
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|pub_date = October 30, 2017
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"Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sue" is a science fiction story by Charlie Jane Anders. It was first published in Boston Review, in their 2017 Global Dystopias anthology.
Synopsis
Rachel is a trans woman who is captured by an agency that forces detransition by means of brain transplants — where she discovers that the person supervising her torture is her childhood friend Jeffrey.
Reception
"Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sue" won the 2018 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award,[http://file770.com/anders-wins-2018-sturgeon-award/ Anders Wins 2018 Sturgeon Award], by Mike Glyer, at File 770; published June 23, 2018; retrieved May 1, 2019 and was on the Honor List for the James Tiptree Jr. Award.[https://tiptree.org/award/2017-james-tiptree-jr-award/2017-honor-list 2017 Honor List], at the Tiptree Society; retrieved May 1, 2019 Gardner Dozois compared it to Kafka's The Castle.[https://locusmag.com/2018/02/gardner-dozois-reviews-short-fiction-5/ Gardner Dozois Reviews Short Fiction], by Gardner Dozois, in Locus; published February 12, 2018; retrieved May 1, 2019
Publishers Weekly considered it "astoundingly good".[https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-946511-04-1 Global Dystopias], reviewed at Publishers Weekly; published December 4, 2017; retrieved May 1, 2019
In 2020, Anders stated that she has only read the story aloud once, as she finds it too traumatizing; as well, she reported that "other trans people have told [her] that they had to lie down after reading it."[https://www.tor.com/2020/05/12/never-say-you-cant-survive-how-to-get-through-hard-times-by-making-up-stories/ Never Say You Can’t Survive: How To Get Through Hard Times By Making Up Stories], by Charlie Jane Anders, at Tor.com; published May 12, 2020; retrieved December 14, 2021
Origin
Anders has described the story's genesis as her own anxieties over the then-pending inauguration of Donald Trump.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://bostonreview.net/fiction/charlie-jane-anders-dont-press-charges-and-i-wont-sue Text of the story], at Boston Review
- {{ISFDB title|2300197}}
{{Charlie Jane Anders}}
Category:Short stories by Charlie Jane Anders
Category:Theodore Sturgeon Award–winning works
Category:Transgender literature
Category:2010s LGBTQ literature
Category:LGBTQ-related horror literature
Category:LGBTQ literature in the United States
Category:LGBTQ speculative fiction
Category:2017 LGBTQ-related literary works
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