Legendary Children by Tom Fitzgerald and Lorenzo Marquez

I learned so much from this book! It was engaging and fun, just like the authors' blog and podcast, and witty without being mean. I think a lot of the references would probably be lost on non-Drag Race fans, but everyone should be watching Drag Race anyway, so start there and then read this book.

4.75 The only thing I wish this book had was an map of who was who on the fabulous cover image. TLo does have an explainer post on their blog, but for the more casual reader who doesn't read their blog or will look this information up, this graphic would be helpful. I learned a lot more about queer history through the lens of the formulas, challenges, and tropes of RPDR. I always enjoy Tom and Lorenzo's unique voice and their takes and examinations of queer culture. For fans of RPDR but also for anyone interested in learning more about central queer figures and movements throughout the last century.

This was really fun and informative! In the introduction, they say that they hope you'll read this book one-handed because you'll want to look up photos and videos as you read, and that was definitely the case for me. It took me awhile to get through this book because of that but it was a good time. I think the authors (GoodReads is showing this as by Tom Fitzgerald but it's by both Tom & Lorenzo from the blog of the same name) did a good job balancing their obvious fandom of RuPaul and Drag Race with critiques of RuPaul and the show. It's still ultimately something that's for fans of the show but that might give you a new perspective. (No mention of RuPaul's fracking tho.)