The queen of all queens RuPaul is ready to show people the man behind the big blond wigs and eight pounds of makeup, as the drag legend announced on Wednesday (October 4) that he is releasing a brand new memoir, The House of Hidden Meanings on March 5, 2024.
via: Rolling Stone
The House of Hidden Meanings will find RuPaul offering a frank chronicle of much of his life: His childhood as a Black queer kid in San Diego, growing up with an often difficult mother and largely absent father; his early days in the punk and drag scenes in Atlanta and New York; and his sobriety and relationship with husband Georges LeBar.
“I’ve always loved to view the world with analytical eyes, examining what lies beneath the surface,” RuPaul said of the book in a statement. “Here, the focus is on my own life — as RuPaul Andre Charles.”
A story in Vogue — featuring an interview with RuPaul — offered a few more details about the book, including the fact that it would only cover the first 40 years of RuPaul’s life and stop before the launch of Drag Race. RuPaul said writing the book was “very cathartic,” and allowed him the chance to reveal more of himself than he usually does: “I feel like I’ve kept up a poker face and held my cards close to my chest my whole life, and I still do that, because it’s a protection mechanism.”
He added: “It’s one of my navigational tools in life: to remember who you are, and then to share it with everyone—especially in a world where people are sometimes looking to tear you apart and to use your kindness against you, to say that you’re weak. But the opposite is true. Your vulnerability is where your real power is.”
The House of Hidden Meanings will mark RuPaul’s fourth book. His first, 1995’s Lettin’ It All Hang Out, was also an autobiography, while 2010’s Workin’ It! and 2018’s GuRu mixed elements of memoir and life guide.
I'd personally like it if Ru would channel his inner-wizard of Oz, give fans a peek behind the curtain that is RuPaul's Drag Race, and speak on the impact the show has had on mainstream pop culture.
I'd also like for Ru to address the darker side of Drag Race, such as the toxic fandom, what really happened between him and former makeup artists Mathu Andersen and Delta Work (the latter told her side on Joseph Shephard's podcast), and why he and former Drag Race contestant Willam have had a long-standing beef that has lasted a decade.
But we'll never get that tea from Ru, because she's only interested in selling people the "everybody say love" side of her personality.
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