The Drag Queens of New York: An Illustrated Field Guide [Paperback]

Meet the drag Queens of New York in this illustrated field guide about ‘dragging’.

From club queens and theatre queens to singing, dancing, acting and disc jockey queens, we get a brief history of New York drag and a glimpse of all the major players who pass behind the footlights.

The current generation of New York drag queens has tossed aside the dour stigma of their pioneering forebears as they stand proud and tall amidst an ever-widening circle of adoring devotees.

Fleisher’s field guide to ‘dragging’ (a pursuit similar to birdwatching) tells the story of the world’s most productive drag queen ecosystem and how it has maintained its niche within the turbulent and unforgiving biosphere of New York’s cultural life.

Fleisher’s field notes are interspersed with illustrated profiles of his exotic subjects and peppered with quotes both queenly and bitchy.

You will discover the origin of the species, the history of its evolution, and the remarkable flip side of natural selection – and all without the help of binoculars.

“I may have been a sissy, but I was an established sissy.”
THE ‘LADY’ BUNNY

Julian Fleisher is a graduate of Yale and lives in the East Village.