I was really pleasantly surprised by this book! I am not the biggest fan of RuPaul and think he's fairly problematic for other members of the LGBTQai+ community. I have never watched an entire episode of Drag Race, but this book was still really interesting and informative. Much less about the show than I expected, this is really the history of drag told in a really fun and compelling way.

I enjoyed reading several aspects of this book! The pacing was wonderful, characters were well drawn, and the reading experience on the whole was delightful.

Legendary Children is like required reading for Intro to LGBTQI History class or people who need to know more about history outside of RuPaul's Drag Race. Instead of having a chronological outline of history it uses themes and concepts from the show to break down where/from whom in history that part of the show it originated. Never be caught Derrick Barry-unawares that no one died at Stonewall again, do yourself a favor and educate yourself. Read this book instead of going into Wikipedia, not realizing you got distracted by ending up in the cryptids section 3 hours later. (I received a free ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.)

While I didn't particularly love this book, I did like it, although I did cringe some. I think it could offer some useful information for younger people or those without much knowledge of gay and trans culture. I'll definitely buy a copy for my library.

<em>Queerness asks for, if not demands, a level of presentation higher than that of straight or cisgender folks, who don’t, after all, have to come out about their straightness or cisness. There’s no reveal, so there’s no need to present. Queer folks never stop coming out, which means the desire or need to present as queer always exists in our lives in ways big and small.</em>

This book is a thoughtful and extremely well-researched meditation on the queer experience through American history using the framing of Drag Race. It makes underrepresented (and honestly, sometimes kind of depressing) histories accessible to a broader audience, just as the show has. Granted, I’m a huge fan of Drag Race, so take this endorsement with a grain of salt if you will; but this book is really the best kind of media critique, which allows the reader to see the shaping forces on the shows we watch and how those shows (at least the uber-successful ones) have shaped society in return. The structure of the chapters each addressing an aspect of drag performance does make it easy to skim over the aspects that are less interesting to the individual reader — I took EXTENSIVE notes on the chapters on language and family, but left the fashion chapters largely untouched — but I find that a strength in any history that claims to encompass all of a topic. The common threads of history, identity, and culture are woven throughout, making each section well-balanced on its own as well as a coherent part of the whole. LOOK, I LOVED IT. I CAN GUSH SOMETIMES.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. (You can bet I’m buying myself & every Drag Race fan I know a copy when it comes out in March.)