What a book cover eh? The cover drew me to the book, first of all, anything with Frank n’ Furter, Leigh Bowery, and Divine, as well as RuPaul and you, are on to a winner. But there is so much more to this book…..after all, never judge a book by its cover!
The book written by both Tom Fitzgerald and Lorenzo Marquez set out to explain how RuPaul’s Drag Race and drag, in general, have become so popular discussing the history behind drag. They explain how “They don’t want to write in masses of detail about the history but wanted to give you enough information to whet your appetite in the hope that you will do your own research into these pioneering people.”
This is exactly what made me enjoy the book the most. There are a few pages on certain leading faces in the drag revolution and it leaves you wanting more. Cut to me raiding online book stores for more books on some of these people and in particular- the Stonewall riots, which I feel ashamed to say I don’t know much about, but thanks to this book I have an amuse-bouche of information and books in my basket to educate myself.
I already knew a lot about Leigh Bowery after reading his biography a number of times but for someone being introduced to him for the first time, this book gives you a fantastic introduction. Of course, you can refresh your knowledge with Leigh on my past review of part of the educational series here
I particularly enjoyed how the book parallels how these points in drag history mapped out Rupauls Drag Race and also some of the reference points to some of the challenges that appear on the show. The only downside is parts of the book I found a little bit repetitive but these were few and far between and I would never take that away from how brilliantly written and interesting the book is. It really didn’t take long to read as I struggled to put it down.
Overall ‘Legendary Children’ was an enjoyable and interesting read. The writers did what they set out to do and that was to educate the reader and give them enough information to allow them to do their own research and that’s what I liked the most. Although my bank balance isn’t happy and my ‘to be read’ pile of books is getting bigger!
You can purchase ‘Legendary Children’ from all good online stores, support your local bookshops!
Written by contributor Nathan Warren
