Publishers Weekly
01/06/2020
Twenty-something British journalist and drag queen Rasmussen, who goes by the stage name Crystal, delivers a cheeky, irreverent debut memoir in diary form. Rasmussen covers such topics as sex, career, and self esteem—and doesn’t shy away from sharing graphic sex stories with vivid details of their dating app hookups. Rasmussen also discusses writing about queer issues for magazines; being verbally and physically attacked for going out in drag; struggling to make it as a drag performer; and the freedom of being a drag queen (“drag allows you to become the kind of superstar you never thought you were allowed to be”). The memoir nods to Sex and the City (Rasmussen identifies as a Samantha and later as a Carrie) and often reads like a queer Bridget Jones’s Diary (like Bridget, the author is a broke writer, and they’re emotionally entangled with a Mark Darcy figure). Beyond being an entertaining romp, this memoir serves as an education for those living outside queer and drag circles. This exuberant, irreverent confessional is loud and proud with its message of acceptance and inclusion. (Apr.)
From the Publisher
"Tom covers the nuance, doubt, and uncertainty of being a drag queen. Crystal covers the transcendence . . . This balancing act requires charisma and quick intelligence—two qualities that have long been prerequisites for drag, but that Diary puts on technicolor display . . . Queering the rom-com, or at least seeming to do so, actually spotlights the genre’s persistent debts to queerness, from the gender antics of Twelfth Night to Oscar Wilde’s silky social critiques."
—Katy Waldman, The New Yorker
“This book changed my life. Tom Rasmussen’s honesty, vulnerability, and fearlessness jump out of every page and every word. It is the queer bible I’ve always needed.”
—Sam Smith, singer and songwriter
"This hilarious memoir follows [Rasmussen] through a year of adventures, from being onstage to being in bed to realizing the fashion world is even more cutthroat than pop culture portrays it. Diary of a Drag Queen is equal parts inspiring and funny as hell."
—Evette Dionne, BitchMedia, "17 Memoirs Feminists Should Read in 2020"
“A must-read. Sexy and fun, Diary of a Drag Queen is about bodies and belonging, about self and transformation, and an attempt to understand our complicated minds. Full of laughs and tears, this book is a compelling look at what it means to be queer.”
—Kristen Arnett, author of Mostly Dead Things
"An extraordinarily deft account of just how complicated the life of a drag queen can be . . . Tom takes us beneath the surface, and into the day-to-day triumphs and tragedies of being a struggling drag queen in unforgiving cities. There are moments where I laughed so hard I peed; and there are moments where I cried so hard I basically choked. Some of the most beautiful passages are when Tom confesses how their drag alter-ego—Bolshevik-turned-Capitalist-Tycoon, Crystal—has been a way for them to celebrate the working-class women who raised them . . . If you’re looking for a book about the intersection of drag and class, and which is full of light, love and laughter, look no further."
—Amrou Al-Kadhi, Lit Hub
"Soul-baring, shamelessly explicit, and wickedly funny, Rasmussen's relentlessly entertaining book gets beneath the glitter and drama of drag to reveal how a practice often dismissed as misogynistic can serve as a kind of salvation for many nonbinary people . . . A sharp-eyed and hilarious memoir."
—Kirkus
"A cheeky, irreverent debut . . . Reads like a queer Bridget Jones’s Diary . . . Beyond being an entertaining romp, this memoir serves as an education for those living outside queer and drag circles. This exuberant, irreverent confessional is loud and proud with its message of acceptance and inclusion."
—Publishers Weekly
“A heartfelt memoir of queerness and non-conformity . . . [A] joyful and painful account of a queer life well lived . . . It is a case for intersectionality told in reality, not just in theory—and so, much needed.”
—Amelia Abraham, Vogue UK
“The book on everyone's desk at Glamour HQ right now . . . Hilarious.”
—Glamour UK
“A riotous portrayal of the contemporary queer experience.”
—Saima Haidrani, Dazed
“Hilarious and candid . . . A must read for anyone interested in drag. Or anyone with a sense of humour. Or just anyone at all.”
—Connor Young, Gay Times
“Truthful, revealing and obscenely hilarious . . . Strident and unapologetic but really sweet, too.”
—Attitude
“Accessible and hilarious . . . If you want a true depiction of what it's like to balance a drag queen persona with an everyday self, look no further.”
—Lauren Sharkey, Bustle
“A proud voice for the non-binary community.”
—Amrou Al-Kadhi, Gay Times
“Outrageously scatological, bacchanalian, and foul-mouthed . . . And yet—amazingly—it is precisely this radical honesty that means the book is never disgusting, or repulsive; far from it . . . Rasmussen’s voice as a writer is poetic, idiosyncratic, and unbelievably funny . . . [A] fierce debut.”
—The Prickle
Kirkus Reviews
2020-01-26
A British queer performer’s account of the tumultuous year that became their defining moment.
In this gloriously outrageous memoir, Rasmussen, who speaks both as “Tom” and their performance alter ego “Crystal,” tells stories about the tribulations and triumphs of life as a drag queen. Born to a working-class family in Lancaster, Rasmussen went to Cambridge to study veterinary medicine. When the book opens, the author has graduated and is working in the New York fashion industry: “It’s a fairly usual First Job in Fashion: latte runs, bollockings for eating too much at breakfast, being reminded I’ll never make it in this business.” On the side, Rasmussen dragged, worked as a journalist, and had copious sex while pining for their best friend/love of their life, Ace. Rasmussen returned to England to make their career in London and be close to family and friends. At first, the obstacles seemed overwhelming. Ace was in love with a man, steady dragging work was nowhere to be found, and Rasmussen was forever overdrawn at the bank. Then the author slept with a “handsome brunette bear” writer and editor who helped them begin making connections in the world of journalism. They accepted a job as an intern at an influential London fashion magazine only to be “gently dismissed” shortly afterward for telling magazine editors their work was racist. While Rasmussen’s journalistic career, which would eventually blossom, temporarily stalled, their performing career and personal life began to take off. Their queer performance group played Glastonbury, where, high on ecstasy, Rasmussen and Ace began the journey toward a committed relationship after their “first sexual experience together,” in a Portaloo. Soul-baring, shamelessly explicit, and wickedly funny, Rasmussen’s relentlessly entertaining book gets beneath the glitter and drama of drag to reveal how a practice often dismissed as misogynistic can serve as a kind of salvation for many nonbinary people. Ultimately, it is a revolutionary “kind of self-care that makes you totally healed, a complete person, even if just for a night.”
A sharp-eyed and hilarious memoir.
