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Pride and Persistence: Stories of Queer Activism (Do You Know My Name? #4)
By Mary Fairhurst Breen. 2023
The activists between these pages have stood up for the queer community, whether on their own behalf or in support…
of people they love. Some made a difference by confronting injustice; others dared to be fully themselves.Wall Street Journal BestsellerPublishers Weekly BestsellerPatrick Hinds has failed. A lot. In fact, he&’s kind of an expert at it—which…
is why he&’s uniquely qualified to say that failure is a good thing.On paper, the chubby, poor, gay son of a lesbian who wrote pornographic letters to Jesus isn&’t the person that you think of when you hear the word &“success.&” Yet Patrick Hinds has somehow managed to bungle his way through to become the successful co-host of True Crime Obsessed—a podcast with more than 200 million downloads.Before that, though, he failed at many, many things. Patrick&’s life is a series of fiascos, missteps, and just plain bad ideas. An eternal optimist, he&’s always thrown himself into everything he&’s done, even when he probably shouldn&’t have. He devoted himself to becoming an actor even though he was terrible, started a daycare even though he hated kids, and somehow had a disastrous time with Bea Arthur . . . even though he couldn&’t be gayer.Both heartfelt and hilarious, Failure Is Not Not an Option lets Patrick&’s signature storytelling style shine—and it&’s also the only book to bravely and definitively declare:1: Failing simply means that you tried (and if you try enough, eventually success will be an option, too).2: Ted Bundy is. Not. Hot. By trying, and yes, failing at so many things, Patrick finally found his way—to a great career, a great husband, and a great family. Along the way, there were hurdles to jump, unexpected surprises, and no shortage of laughter. Failure is Not NOT an Option is a fun and outrageous read that will raise you up—and provide a soft landing pad for the next time you fall.Beautiful Monster: A Becoming
By Miles Borrero. 2023
A breathtaking, exquisitely crafted memoir about a trans person&’s singular journey through breaching the boundaries of gender—across generations, cultures and…
borders—to become his truest, most authentic self.Nearing the age of forty, with an entire life already lived as a woman—half in Colombia, half in the US—Miles Borrero comes face to face with his father&’s impending death. Suddenly realizing that he has been stalling his transition for fear of losing his family&’s love, this moment catalyzes Miles&’s determination to be fully known as his father&’s son before it is too late. In Beautiful Monster, Miles chronicles his unusual childhood, by turns riveting and hilarious, in &’80s and &’90s Colombia during the Pablo Escobar years, as well as his move to Salt Lake City to pursue acting and the winding trajectory that eventually lands him in the New York City yoga scene. Within these very different cultures, the realities of being queer and trans echo poignantly through the triumphs, heartbreaks, family dynamics, spiritual pursuits, and relationships that propel Miles along his path. Sublimely nuanced and written in ravishing prose that is as unique and irresistible as its subject, Beautiful Monster is one person&’s story of navigating the pressures to perform femininity while becoming a gender outlaw. Brimming with wonder, humor, and mythos, entertaining and enlightening in equal measure, this book offers a compelling case for embracing one&’s true nature.Desert Queen
By Jyoti R. Gopal. 2023
This picture book biography in verse follows the life of beloved Rajasthani drag performer Queen Harish, known as the Whirling…
Desert Queen of Rajasthan. Lit by an inner fire and propelled by a family tragedy, Harish defied the gender conventions of middle class Indian life, battled discrimination and intimidation, and eventually grew up to dance with Bollywood movie stars and on stages across the world.Jyoti Gopal's rhythmic phrases evoke the particular sounds and beats of the music Harish danced to, and capture the passions and conflicts of his life. The poignant and inspiring tale is interpreted by internationally acclaimed Rajasthani artist Svabhu Kohli in kohl-black lines and shapes and brilliant jewel-like colors.Desert Queen
By Jyoti R. Gopal. 2023
This picture book biography in verse follows the life of beloved Rajasthani drag performer Queen Harish, known as the Whirling…
Desert Queen of Rajasthan. Lit by an inner fire and propelled by a family tragedy, Harish defied the gender conventions of middle class Indian life, battled discrimination and intimidation, and eventually grew up to dance with Bollywood movie stars and on stages across the world.Jyoti Gopal's rhythmic phrases evoke the particular sounds and beats of the music Harish danced to, and capture the passions and conflicts of his life. The poignant and inspiring tale is interpreted by internationally acclaimed Rajasthani artist Svabhu Kohli in kohl-black lines and shapes and brilliant jewel-like colors.I'm Walking as Straight as I Can: Transcending Disability in Hollywood and Beyond
By Geri Jewell. 2011
A candid memoir of building an acting career—and a happy life—with cerebral palsy: &“It&’s a joy to read this book&”…
(Ian McShane). Exposing real pain, unstoppable perseverance, and unquestionable faith in the human spirit, this autobiography offers a true glimpse beyond actress Geri Jewell&’s public image as a one-dimensional hero. Born with cerebral palsy, Jewell made history when she became the first person with a disability cast in a recurring role on American television in The Facts of Life, and in the years that followed she experienced a string of other successes, including a performance at the White House and a role on HBO&’s Deadwood. But along with such accomplishments, this personal story also depicts some of the less-than-rosy events that happened behind closed doors during her initial climb to fame—among them, her release from The Facts of Life; her manager&’s embezzlement of the money she made on the show; and her struggle with chronic pain, despair, and a fear of revealing her true sexual identity. Told with grace and humor, this inspirational narrative presents an honest portrayal of a woman who refused to give up when others kept knocking her down.Transgender Profiles: Time for a Change
By Linda DeFruscio. 2018
“A comprehensive and enlightening must-read primer for anyone who is beginning their transition from male to female or female to…
male.” —Jeanette Renee, TLC’s I Am JazzTransgender Profiles: Time for a Change is an inspirational volume from Linda DeFruscio about the courage it takes to become the person you have always felt you were inside—to shirk off the mask that you have worn for your whole life until this moment. As an electrologist, Linda sees clients every day who are in the process of transitioning to a different gender, and she is there to help them in their journey of self-expression and the claiming of their identity.Filled with twenty unique stories of bravery from all different walks of life, this book is a tribute to all the courageous people who take their identity in their own hands and go forth to find the body that fits the soul and mind within. For those considering transitioning, for those looking for perspective and guidance in supporting loved ones, or for those who are curious and want to understand the struggles and triumphs of transgender individuals, Transgender Profiles is an invaluable resource.“Not only does this work open one’s eyes and mind to the transgender community, it goes beyond that to remind us of the importance of loving and caring for one another. Thanks to people like Linda DeFruscio, our world is becoming a more accepting and safer place.” —Andrew J. Safioleas, PharmD, MBA, PRS, RPh, inpatient pharmacist and music instructor“This clear, helpful collection tells many of our stories in the irreplaceable and accessible form of brief oral histories.” —Stephanie Burt, Professor of English, Harvard UniversityBuffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded
By Hannah Hart Hannah Hart. 2016
The comedian and Internet star shares her experiences with family, sexuality, mental health, friendship & love in this New York…
Times–bestselling memoir.The wildly popular YouTube personality, star of Food Network’s I Hart Food, and author of the New York Times–bestseller My Drunk Kitchen is back! This time, she’s stirring up memories and tales from her past.By combing through the journals that Hannah has kept for much of her life, this collection of narrative essays deliver a fuller picture of her life, her experiences, and the things she’s figured out about family, faith, love, sexuality, self-worth, friendship and fame.Revealing what makes Hannah tick, this sometimes cringe-worthy, poignant collection of stories is sure to deliver plenty of Hannah’s wit and wisdom, and hopefully encourage you to try your hand at her patented brand of reckless optimism.With a New Afterword by the Author“By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Hannah Hart’s new book is a roaring, beautiful, and profoundly human account of an extraordinary life.” —John Green “Hannah shares her truth with an honesty that is inspiring—one that makes me believe her when she says that it’s going to get better or that laughter is just around the corner or that you aren’t alone.” —Jenny Lawson, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Let’s Pretend This Never Happened and Furiously Happy “The topics are grim, but there is kindness in her story, and, most significantly, humor. Fans will be pleased that other stars such as comedian Grace Helbig make guest appearances, and, like a true role model, Hart uses her platform to raise awareness of the shortcomings of the current U.S. medical system in treating mental health.” —Publishers WeeklyTouching the Art
By Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore. 2023
A daringly observant memoir about intergenerational trauma, fine art, and compartmentalization from a returning Soft Skull author and Lambda Literary…
Award winnerA mixture of memoir, biography, criticism, and social history, Touching the Art is queer icon and activist Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore&’s interrogation of the possibilities of artistic striving, the limits of the middle-class mindset, the legacy of familial abandonment, and what art can and cannot do.Taking the form of a self-directed research project, Sycamore recounts the legacy of her fraught relationship with her late grandmother, an abstract artist from Baltimore who encouraged Mattilda as a young artist, then disparaged Mattilda&’s work as &“vulgar&” and a &“waste of talent&” once it became unapologetically queer.As she sorts through her grandmother Gladys&’s paintings and handmade paperworks, Sycamore examines the creative impulse itself. In fragments evoking the movements of memory, she searches for Gladys&’s place within the trajectories of midcentury modernism and Abstract Expressionism, Jewish assimilation and white flight, intergenerational trauma and class striving.Sycamore writes, &“Art is never just art, it is a history of feeling, a gap between sensations, a safety valve, an escape hatch, a sudden shift in the body, a clipboard full of flowers, a welcome mat flipped over and back, over and back, welcome.&”Refusing easy answers in search of an embodied truth, Sycamore upends propriety to touch the art and feel everything that comes through.Mother, Nature: A 5,000-Mile Journey to Discover if a Mother and Son Can Survive Their Differences
By Jedidiah Jenkins. 2023
From New York Times bestselling author of To Shake the Sleeping Self. &“Exquisitely written and completely compelling . . .…
As Jedidiah Jenkins traces a 5,000-mile route with his wildly entertaining mother, Barb, he begins to untangle the live wires of a parent-child bond and to wrestle with a love that hurts.&”—Suleika Jaouad, author of Between Two Kingdoms When his mother, Barbara, turns seventy, Jedidiah Jenkins is reminded of a sobering truth: Our parents won&’t live forever. For years, he and Barbara have talked about taking a trip together, just the two of them. They disagree about politics, about God, about the project of society—disagreements that hurt. But they love thrift stores, they love eating at diners, they love true crime, and they love each other. Jedidiah wants to step into Barbara&’s world and get to know her in a way that occasional visits haven&’t allowed. They land on an idea: to retrace the thousands of miles Barbara trekked with Jedidiah&’s father, travel writer Peter Jenkins, as part of the Walk Across America book trilogy that became a sensation in the 1970s. Beginning in New Orleans, they set off for the Oregon coast, listening to podcasts about outlaws and cult leaders—the only media they can agree on—while reliving the journey that changed Barbara&’s life. Jedidiah discovers who Barbara was as a thirty-year-old writer walking across America and who she is now, as a parent who loves her son yet holds on to a version of faith that sees his sexuality as a sin. Along the way, he peels back the layers of questions millions are asking today: How do we stay in relationship when it hurts? When do boundaries turn into separation? When do we stand up for ourselves, and when do we let it go? Tender, smart, and profound, Mother, Nature is a story of a remarkable mother-son bond and a moving meditation on the complexities of love.RuPaul&’s Drag Race superstar Ginger Minj shares her favorite recipes, best advice, and wildest stories in this hilarious book that&’s…
part memoir, part cookbook. Perfect for fans of Trixie and Katya&’s Guide to Modern Womanhood.Drag icon Ginger Minj brings her signature humor and sass to this tongue-in-cheek memoir-cum-life manual-cum-cookbook. Featuring Ginger&’s favorite Southern-inspired recipes, Southern Fried Sass showcases some of her most vulnerable and celebratory moments, revealing the most valuable lessons she&’s learned after years in drag and the pearls of wisdom she&’s gleaned from her grandmother&’s personal brand of Southern resilience. You&’ll cheer for Ginger as she spills the tea with exclusive behind-the-scenes details from three seasons of RuPaul&’s Drag Race and offers her best advice on everything from contouring to cooking and setting the table for a full-on Southern-style Thanksgiving dinner. Did we say dinner? Here, you&’ll find more than fifty recipes, including The Minx&’s Sick&’ning Scalloped Pineapple Paradise, Red Barn BBQ Ribs platter, Better Than Sex cake, and countless other decadent desserts. From fighting for what you&’re worth to looking good on a motorcycle as a big girl to finding love while also making damn good cupcakes, this is the perfect gift for anyone who wants to live their best life.The Last Man Takes LSD: Foucault and the End of Revolution
By Mitchell Dean, Daniel Zamora. 2021
Foucault&’s personal and political experimentation, its ambiguous legacy, and the rise of neoliberal politicsPart intellectual history, part critical theory, The…
Last Man Takes LSD challenges the way we think about both Michel Foucault and modern progressive politics. One fateful day in May 1975, Foucault dropped acid in the southern California desert. In letters reproduced here, he described it as among the most important events of his life, one which would lead him to completely rework his History of Sexuality. That trip helped redirect Foucault&’s thought and contributed to a tectonic shift in the intellectual life of the era. He came to reinterpret the social movements of May &’68 and reposition himself politically in France, embracing anti-totalitarian currents and becoming a critic of the welfare state.Mitchell Dean and Daniel Zamora examine the full historical context of the turn in Foucault&’s thought, which included studies of the Iranian revolution and French socialist politics, through which he would come to appreciate the possibilities of autonomy offered by a new force on the French political scene that was neither of the left nor the right: neoliberalism.Daddy Lessons
By Steacy Easton. 2023
Cowboy erotica meets Kathy Acker in this smart, raunchy look at a queer sexual awakeningSteacy Easton grew up Mormon, queer,…
and Autistic in the West. This book traces the people and spaces that made them who they are: the Mormon church, an Anglican boys’ boarding school where they were sent to be ‘reformed’ and where they were abused by a teacher, and then, later on, rodeos and bathhouses and mall bathrooms. The world Easton describes is one in which desire is complicated, where men – ‘daddies’ – can be loving and they can be abusive, and there isn’t always a clear distinction. Easton explores the essential texts of their sexuality, from Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick to Neil LaBute, Kip Moore to Lorelei James, and delves into their own encounters as they came of age. These daddy lessons are blunt about the pleasures of disobedience, slippery and difficult, revelling in the funk of memory and desire."In dangerous times, Daddy Lessons dares to complicate the question of what children desire, including things that they probably shouldn’t, and that adults must not exploit or manipulate. Except they do. Steacy Easton's meditations follow how such desires and disasters secrete an aesthetic and a self, and how something vivacious can spring from that muck, something like this book itself, smutty and shining and garlanded in jonquils." – Carl Wilson, author of Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste"Daddy Lessons is a cocky and tender reclamation of childhood and teenage wanting." – Vivek Shraya, author of I’m Afraid of Men and People Change"Steacy writes about the queer pleasure-seeking body in ways both fresh and eminently familiar." – Jordan Tannahill, author of The ListenersBecoming Us: The inspiring memoir of transgender joy, love and family AS SEEN ON LORRAINE
By Jake Graf, Hannah Graf. 2023
'The UK's most influential LGBT Power Couple' - IndependentThis is the inspiring and moving memoir of a couple in search…
of a normal family life. And in many ways that have found that: married, in careers they love and parents to two beautiful children. But their journey there has been an extraordinary one. Becoming Us is the inspiring and at times heart-breaking memoir of Jake and Hannah Graf, the UK's most visible transgender couple and family. We follow their extraordinary paths towards the 'normality' they have always longed for, as they navigate the many challenges and pitfalls along the way. Born in 1980s London under Section 28 and assigned female at birth, Jake knew from a young age that he was in body that didn't fit. Hannah was assigned male at birth, and growing up in small town Cardiff she hid her innate femininity from her family and friends until joining the British Army in her late teens. Their journeys were wildly different, Jake falling into drug and alcohol addiction, Hannah excelling in the military and serving across the world. Hannah would later come out as trans and be awarded an MBE by HRH Prince William. Jake discovered community and purpose in the film industry. But it was only after they found themselves that they were ready to find each other.Now, they are married and parents to two beautiful daughters. Amid soaring levels of hatred and transphobia in the UK, Jake and Hannah have chosen to tell their story in the hope of increasing awareness, raising visibility and spreading some much needed love and understanding around transgender people and their lives. They hope too that in sharing their experiences, they will help in the fight for inclusivity, acceptance and support across all demographics.Choosing Family: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Black Resistance
By Francesca T. Royster. 2022
Choosing Family: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Black Resistance is a brilliant literary memoir of chosen family and chosen…
heritage, told against the backdrop of Chicago’s North and South Sides. As a multiracial household in Chicago’s North Side community of Rogers Park, race is at the core of Francesca T. Royster and her family’s world, influencing everyday acts of parenting and the conception of what family truly means. Like Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts, this lyrical and affecting memoir focuses on a unit of three: the author; her wife, Annie, who’s white; and Cecilia, the Black daughter they adopt as a couple in their 40s and 50s. Choosing Family chronicles this journey to motherhood while examining the messiness and complexity of adoption and parenthood from a Black, queer, and feminist perspective. Royster also explores her memories of the matriarchs of her childhood and the homes these women created in Chicago’s South Side—itself a dynamic character in the memoir—where “family” was fluid, inclusive, and not necessarily defined by marriage or other socially recognized contracts. Calling upon the work of some of her favorite queer thinkers, including José Esteban Muñoz and Audre Lorde, Royster interweaves her experiences and memories with queer and gender theory to argue that many Black families, certainly her own, have historically had a “queer” attitude toward family: configurations that sit outside the white normative experience and are the richer for their flexibility and generosity of spirit. A powerful, genre-bending memoir of family, identity, and acceptance, Choosing Family, ultimately, is about joy—about claiming the joy that society did not intend to assign to you, or to those like you.The Little Guide to Freddie Mercury: The show must go on (The little Book Of... Ser.)
By Orange Hippo. 2023
A charismatic performer and frontman to Queen, Freddie Mercury is regarded as one of the greatest rock singers in music…
history.Bursting with all the famed wit, wisdom and wisecracks that made the late, great showman's larger-than-life career so compelling, this tiny tome is home to all of Freddie's most famous, infamous, and funniest flights of spoken fancy. From controversial interview quotes to candid life philosophies, through his legendary performance at Live Aid in 1985 to his final days as a solo artist, everything he ever said (almost) is here."A lot of people slammed 'Bohemian Rhapsody', but who can you compare that to? Name one group that's done an operatic single." Freddie, on 'Bohemian Rhapsody', interview with Circus magazine, March 1977."I think Queen songs are pure escapism, like going to see a good film – after that, people can go away, and go back to their problems." Freddie, on the magic of his band's songs, interview with Melody Maker, May 1981.Love Wins: The Lovers and Lawyers Who Fought the Landmark Case for Marriage Equality
By Jim Obergefell, Debbie Cenziper. 2016
The fascinating and very moving story of the lovers, lawyers, judges and activists behind the groundbreaking Supreme Court case that…
led to one of the most important, national civil rights victories in decades—the legalization of same-sex marriage.In June 2015, the Supreme Court made same-sex marriage the law in all fifty states in a decision as groundbreaking as Roe v Wade and Brown v Board of Education. Through insider accounts and access to key players, this definitive account reveals the dramatic and previously unreported events behind Obergefell v Hodges and the lives at its center. This is a story of law and love—and a promise made to a dying man who wanted to know how he would be remembered.Twenty years ago, Jim Obergefell and John Arthur fell in love in Cincinnati, Ohio, a place where gays were routinely picked up by police and fired from their jobs. In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government had to provide married gay couples all the benefits offered to straight couples. Jim and John—who was dying from ALS—flew to Maryland, where same-sex marriage was legal. But back home, Ohio refused to recognize their union, or even list Jim’s name on John’s death certificate. Then they met Al Gerhardstein, a courageous attorney who had spent nearly three decades advocating for civil rights and who now saw an opening for the cause that few others had before him.This forceful and deeply affecting narrative—Part Erin Brockovich, part Milk, part Still Alice—chronicles how this grieving man and his lawyer, against overwhelming odds, introduced the most important gay rights case in U.S. history. It is an urgent and unforgettable account that will inspire readers for many years to come.Virginia Woolf: And the Women Who Shaped Her World
By Gillian Gill. 2019
An insightful, witty look at Virginia Woolf through the lens of the extraordinary women closest to her. How did Adeline…
Virginia Stephen become the great writer Virginia Woolf? Acclaimed biographer Gillian Gill tells the stories of the women whose legacies—of strength, style, and creativity—shaped Woolf&’s path to the radical writing that inspires so many today. Gill casts back to Woolf&’s French-Anglo-Indian maternal great-grandmother Thérèse de L&’Etang, an outsider to English culture whose beauty passed powerfully down the female line; and to Woolf&’s aunt Anne Thackeray Ritchie, who gave Woolf her first vision of a successful female writer. Yet it was the women in her own family circle who had the most complex and lasting effect on Woolf. Her mother, Julia, and sisters Stella, Laura, and Vanessa were all, like Woolf herself, but in markedly different ways, warped by the male-dominated household they lived in. Finally, Gill shifts the lens onto the famous Bloomsbury group. This, Gill convinces, is where Woolf called upon the legacy of the women who shaped her to transform a group of men--united in their love for one another and their disregard for women--into a society in which Woolf ultimately found her freedom and her voice.Hiding Out: A Memoir of Drugs, Deception, and Double Lives
By Tina Allen. 2018
“[Hiding Out] brims with drunkenness, sexuality and urgency...a “can’t-put-down” read." — Washington PostActress and playwright Tina Alexis Allen’s audacious memoir unravels her…
privileged suburban Catholic upbringing that was shaped by her formidable father—a man whose strict religious devotion and dedication to his large family hid his true nature and a life defined by deep secrets and dangerous lies.The youngest of thirteen children in a devout Catholic family, Tina Alexis Allen grew up in 1980s suburban Maryland in a house ruled by her stern father, Sir John, an imposing, British-born authoritarian who had been knighted by the Pope. Sir John supported his large family running a successful travel agency that specialized in religious tours to the Holy Land and the Vatican for pious Catholics.But his daughter, Tina, was no sweet and innocent Catholic girl. A smart-mouthed high school basketball prodigy, she harbored a painful secret: she liked girls. When Tina was eighteen her father discovered the truth about her sexuality. Instead of dragging her to the family priest and lecturing her with tearful sermons about sin and damnation, her father shocked her with his honest response. He, too, was gay.The secret they shared about their sexuality brought father and daughter closer, and the two became trusted confidants and partners in a relationship that eventually spiraled out of control. Tina and Sir John spent nights dancing in gay clubs together, experimenting with drugs, and casual sex—all while keeping the rest of their family in the dark.Outside of their wild clandestine escapades, Sir John made Tina his heir apparent at the travel agency. Drawn deeper into the business, Tina soon became suspicious of her father’s frequent business trips, his multiple passports and cache of documents, and the briefcases full of cash that mysteriously appeared and quickly vanished. Digging deeper, she uncovered a disturbing facet beyond the stunning double-life of the father she thought she knew.A riveting and cinematic true tale stranger and twistier than fiction, Hiding Out is an astonishing story of self-discovery, family, secrets, and the power of the truth to set us free.Transformer: A Story of Glitter, Glam Rock, and Loving Lou Reed
By Simon Doonan. 2022
In this funny and poignant memoir and cultural history, the television personality, columnist, and author of Drag pays homage to…
Lou Reed’s groundbreaking album Transformer on its fiftieth anniversary and recalls its influence on his coming of age and coming out through glam rock.In November 1972, Lou Reed released his album, Transformer because he thought it was “dreary for gay people to have to listen to straight people’s love songs.” That groundbreaking idea echoed with the times. That same year, Sweden was the first country to legalize gender-affirming surgery, and San Francisco struck down employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.Sometimes an artistic creation perfectly aligns with a broader social and political history, and Transformer—with the songs “Walk on the Wild Side,” “Perfect Day,” and “Vicious”—perfectly captured its time. “Walk on the Wild Side” was banned on radio across the country but became a massive hit when young people threatened to boycott stations that would not play it. The album's cover featured a high-contrast image of Lou, flaunting a new mascara'd glamrock incarnation, shot by legend Mick Rock, thereby underscoring his intention to create "a gay album."In Transformer, Doonan tells the story of how Lou Reed came to make the album with the help of David Bowie, and places its creation within the course of Reed’s life. Doonan offers first-hand testimony of the album’s impact on the LGBTQ+ community, recalling how it transformed his own life as a 20-year-old working class kid from Reading, England, who had just discovered the joys of London Glam Rock and was sparked by the artistic freedom of Warhol’s The Factory. Transformer was a revelation—hearing Reed’s songs, Doonan understood how the world was changing for him and his friends.A poignant, personal addition to modern music and LGBTQ+ history, Transformer captures a pivotal moment when those long silenced were finally given a voice. As transgender icon Candy Darling, highlighted in his lyrics, told Reed, “It’s so nice to hear ourselves.”Transformer includes approximatively 16 pages of black-and-white and color photos.