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The trailblazing “mother” of all drag queens unpacks the baggage of his childhood, broken family, and adventuresome adulthood. RuPaul (b. 1960), the pioneering creator of RuPaul’s Drag Race, writes eloquently about his early decades. While his fearless mother taught him independence and self-sufficiency, his father offered largely indifference and disappointment. “My inheritance from my father was a stage presence,” writes the author, which has served him well across a dazzling career of iconic performances and appearances. As he recounts, he was 12 when his “secret girl” awakened, spurred by the film Cleopatra Jones, and in his early teen years, he took inspiration from Anne Francis, Cher, and Diana Ross, among other significant cultural figures. In the progressive Atlanta of the 1970s and ’80s, RuPaul studied performing arts and experimented with drugs before acknowledging that “the promise of New York was irresistible.” In NYC, he writes, “I was finally getting sexual attention, but it was by disguising myself. I was only doing drag as a joke. But suddenly it seemed like the joke was on me. Back then, my drag wasn’t yet refined in the way it would become.” Despite being “treated with disdain” by many of the “cool kids of the downtown scene,” RuPaul persevered for years, eventually finding massive success. The author writes poignantly about meeting the love of his life, Georges LeBar, on a Manhattan dance floor, as well as the bittersweet evolution of their relationship. While RuPaul punctuates his life story with knowledgeable opinions on issues like systemic oppression, Black victimization, and the queer community, he occasionally dampens the intensity of the narrative with saccharine platitudes about inner magic and strength, or how “it’s the ego that grips, and nonattachment is the path to freedom.” Nonetheless, RuPaul fans will undoubtedly devour this meticulously recollected, heartfelt excavation of his life’s highs and lows. A highly candid, empowering celebrity self-portrait. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.