Tango
My Childhood, Backwards and in High Heels
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3.8 • 6 Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
Hailed as “the greatest cabaret artist of [their] generation,” Mx. Justin Vivian Bond makes a brilliant literary debut with this candid and hilarious queer coming-of-age tale (The New Yorker).
Bond recalls in vivid detail how it looked and felt to first discover Mom's lipstick (Iced Watermelon by Revlon). Growing up haunted by their awareness of being “different,” Bond began to foster intimate friendships with girls, and to feel increasingly at risk with boys. But when the bully next door wanted to meet in secret, Bond couldn't resist. Their trysts went on for years, making Bond acutely aware of how sexual power and vulnerability can intertwine. With inimitable style, Bond raises issues about LBGTQ adolescence, parenting trans/queer children, and bullying, all while being utterly entertaining.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The author's fans know Bond better as Kiki, the all-talking all-singing, rage-and-booze-fueled half of Kiki and Herb downtown cabaret sensations who recently starred in the Tony-nominated Kiki and Herb on Broadway. Kiki isn't Bond, of course, but her fans will not be shocked to find that Bond's childhood though it didn't include an orphanage like the one where Kiki and Herb met wasn't all roses and fun. Featuring a long-term secret affair with the neighborhood bully and parents who seemed to wish they'd had a different child, Bond's childhood was spent longing to be understood, loved, and allowed to wear lipstick. Though it's impossible not to sympathize, Bond is given to stating the obvious. Despite how voice-driven (in every sense of the word) Kiki and Herb were, the book's voice feels muted and not particularly individual.
