"Sasha Velour, gender-fluid icon and winner of Ru Paul's Drag Race Season 9, is one of the most thoughtful, knowledgeable, and talented drag artists working today. Velour weaves together a timely and heartfelt manifesto on drag, gender, and queer culture. As we look to map our current political moment onto the broader tapestry of queer history and a queer future, hers is a guiding voice."
Publisher Harper
Publication Date 2023-04-04
Section Gender Studies / Gay & Lesbian / All Staff Suggestions / Nonfiction Suggestions / Maddie C.
Format Hardcover
ISBN 9780358508083
From iconic queen Sasha Velour, a thought-provoking manifesto that explores the cultural influence of drag as activism, art, resistance, and identity, illustrated with her original artwork.
Sasha Velour has worn countless iconic wigs in her life (think roses and Whitney). Now, in The Big Reveal, the revered entertainer shows off yet another layer of herself: drag intellectual Professor Velour! In this beautifully illustrated, graphic, entertaining, and informative book (including original drawings, comics, and photography), Sasha illuminates drag as a form of art, expression, and community, with a rich, oft-overlooked history.
In chapters such as “Drag is Activism,” “Drag is Herstory,” “Drag is Art,” “Drag is Queer,” and “Drag is Utopia,” you’ll find revelation after revelation about radical queer expressions throughout time, from Kabuki to the origins of the word “drag” in Polari to contemporary ballroom culture. Sasha also recalls her own journey, from the women who inspired and raised her, to learning how to create and style her costumes out of nothing, to RuPaul, Nightgowns, and beyond.
Weaving history, gender theory, politics, and memoir, The Big Reveal is a chronicle of vital, shared queer pasts. From philosophical insights to practical tips on getting your drag career started, Sasha explores every facet of drag, bringing necessary and sparkling substance to abstract notions of queerness, beauty, expression and liberation!
