The iconic drag superstar and business mogul sweeps aside his enigmatic persona to reveal the tough upbringing and determination to succeed that saw him become a pioneering figure in the LGBTQ+ scene.
From international drag superstar and pop culture icon RuPaul, comes his most revealing and personal work to date-a brutally honest, surprisingly poignant, and deeply intimate memoir of growing up Black, poor, and queer in a broken home to discovering the power of performance, found family, and self-acceptance.
A profound introspection of his life, relationships, and identity, The House of Hidden Meanings is a self-portrait of the legendary icon on the road to global fame and changing the way the world thinks about drag.
Central to RuPaul's success has been his chameleonic adaptability. From drag icon to powerhouse producer of one of the world's largest television franchises, RuPaul's ever-shifting nature has always been part of his brand as both supermodel and super mogul.
Yet that adaptability has made him enigmatic to the public. In this memoir, his most intimate and detailed book yet, RuPaul makes himself truly known.
Stripping away all artifice, RuPaul recounts the story of his life with breath taking clarity and tenderness, bringing his signature wisdom and wit to his own biography. From his early years growing up as a queer Black kid in San Diego navigating complex relationships with his absent father and temperamental mother, to forging an identity in the punk and drag scenes of Atlanta and New York, to finding enduring love with his husband Georges LeBar and self-acceptance in sobriety, RuPaul excavates his own biography, uncovering new truths and insights in his personal history.
Here in RuPaul's singular and extraordinary story is a manual for living-a personal philosophy that testifies to the value of chosen family, the importance of harnessing what makes you different, and the transformational power of facing yourself fearlessly.
If we're all born naked and the rest is drag, then this is RuPaul totally out of drag. This is RuPaul stripped bare.
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 9780008614942
Number of pages: 256
Weight: 440 g
Dimensions: 240 x 159 x 26 mm
'RuPaul is a beautiful soul, and never has that beauty been more on display than in the pages of The House of Hidden Meanings. This memoir contains all the nuances of RuPaul’s story previously unknown, filled with universal and necessary truths everyone should embrace about identity and acceptance' Jane Fonda, Academy Award winning actress 'RuPaul will live forever. Like Cleopatra. Like Shakespeare. Not only as a creator but as a teacher and great source of inspiration. His memoir is deeply felt and beautifully written' Isaac Mizrahi, producer & fashion icon 'More invaluable wisdom from my favorite GuRu' Thandiwe Newton, Emmy & BAFTA award winning actress 'There are few people in history who can invent themselves and, through sheer love and determination, can transcend that invention. Bowie was one of those people and so is RuPaul. This book crisscrosses the United States like a cross-dressing On The Road. Pathos, wisdom and humor collide to enlighten the reader— I just could not put it down' Daphne Guinness, fashion designer, actress, and musician 'RuPaul’s memoir is brilliant, bold, beautiful, and brave. This book has balls' Michael Patrick King, writer/director Sex and the City and …And Just Like That 'RuPaul has poured his soul into his biography. And it’s a beautiful one' Lee Daniels, director ‘It is a memoir that is by turns shocking, poignant, fantastically egotistical and often wise. Each sentence is recognisably in RuPauls’s voice – arch, funny given to epigrammatic pronouncements – distilling the cadences and assorted pop culture references that have come to characterise his TV persona. Consistently entertaining’ Observer ‘Gossipy, raunchy’ Evening Standard ‘Richly evocative, emotionally poignant and brimming with inspiration to swim against the current, RuPaul Charles’ memoir-cum-manifesto defies genres – much like the man himself’ iNews
RuPaul is not shy about writing about his destiny or his greatness and I found that pretty refreshing. This is clearly the beginning of a suite of autobiographies as it deals with his childhood and leaves us just as... More
I'm a fan of RuPaul and Drag Race and getting a deep dive into his personal life was so interesting and inspiring, there was so much I didn't know prior to reading this. I do wish it was longer, and I wanted... More
Couldn’t put this down once started, compelling, interesting and totally absorbing. Written in a matter of fact style, unsentimental and “as it was “. take on life.
Please sign in to write a review
Would you like to proceed to the App store to download the Waterstones App?