Glitter and Concrete
A Cultural History of Drag in New York City
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
*NATIONAL BESTSELLER*
*A STONEWALL AWARD HONOR BOOK*
*The Millions Most Anticipated List of 2023*
*A Vogue Best LGBTQ+ Book of 2023*
From journalist and drag historian Elyssa Maxx Goodman, an intimate, evocative history of drag in New York City exploring its dynamic role, from the Jazz Age to Drag Race, in queer liberation and urban life
From the lush feather boas that adorned early female impersonators to the sequined lip syncs of barroom queens to the drag kings that have us laughing in stitches, drag has played a vital role in the creative life of New York City. But the evolution of drag in the city—as an art form, a community and a mode of liberation—has never before been fully chronicled.
Now, for the first time, Elyssa Goodman unearths the dramatic, provocative untold story of drag in New York City in all its glistening glory. Glitter and Concrete ducks beneath the velvet ropes of Harlem Renaissance balls, examines drag’s crucial role in the Stonewall Uprising, traces drag's influence on disco and punk rock as well as its unifying power during the AIDS crisis and 9/11, and culminates with the modern-day drag queen in the era of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Including original interviews with high-profile performers, as well as glamorous color photos from exclusive sources and the author herself, Glitter and Concrete is a significant contribution to queer history and an essential read for anyone curious about the story that echoes beneath the heels.
"Deeply researched and featuring a cast of characters who can truly be described as fabulous, Glitter and Concrete is urban history on fire." —Thomas Dyja, author of New York, New York, New York
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Historian Goodman debuts with an expansive survey of drag performance in New York City from the mid-19th century through today. Drawing on archival research and interviews, she examines the surge of male and female impersonation in Broadway theater at the turn of the century; drag and masquerade balls in Harlem and Greenwich Village in the 1920s; drag revues put on by soldiers during WWII; drag queens' resistance to antidrag legislation and police raids of queer venues in the 1960s, leading to the Stonewall riot; the avant-garde and punk-inspired drag performances that raised awareness about the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s; and, finally, the rise of commercial forms of drag in the 2000s, culminating in the current era of RuPaul's Drag Race. Throughout, Goodman highlights members of New York's queer community and their allies who resisted antidrag laws and social stigma, including Mae West, a male impersonator and playwright before becoming a Hollywood star, who faced censorship and fines for writing several plays in the 1920s that featured gay characters and drag performers (more than once, the police raided performances of her plays and arrested the entire cast), and drag queens Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, who in 1970 founded S.T.A.R. (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries), the first organization in the U.S. to provide housing for homeless trans youth. Filled with vibrant character portraits and lesser-known histories, this is a comprehensive guide to New York's long tradition of drag performance and queer activism.
