RuPaul: The House of Hidden Meanings

From international drag superstar and pop culture icon RuPaul, comes his most revealing to date―a brutally honest and deeply intimate memoir of growing up Black, poor, and queer in a broken home to discovering the power of performance and self-acceptance.

A profound introspection of his life, relationships, and identity, The House of Hidden Meanings is a self-portrait of the legendary icon on the road to global fame and changing the way the world thinks about drag.

Central to RuPaul’s success has been his chameleonic adaptability. From drag icon to powerhouse producer of one of the world’s largest television franchises, RuPaul’s ever-shifting nature has always been part of his brand as both supermodel and super mogul.

Yet that adaptability has made him enigmatic to the public. In this memoir, his most intimate and detailed book yet, RuPaul makes himself truly known.

Stripping away all artifice, RuPaul recounts the story of his life with breath taking clarity and tenderness, bringing his signature wisdom and wit to his own biography. From his early years growing up as a queer Black kid in San Diego navigating complex relationships with his absent father and temperamental mother, to forging an identity in the punk and drag scenes of Atlanta and New York, to finding enduring love with his husband Georges LeBar and self-acceptance in sobriety, RuPaul excavates his own biography, uncovering new truths and insights in his personal history.

Here in RuPaul’s singular and extraordinary story is a manual for living―a personal philosophy that testifies to the value of chosen family, the importance of harnessing what makes you different, and the transformational power of facing yourself fearlessly.

If we’re all born naked and the rest is drag, then this is RuPaul totally out of drag. This is RuPaul stripped bare.

Review

'RuPaul is a beautiful soul, and never has that beauty been more on display than in the pages of The House of Hidden Meanings. This memoir contains all the nuances of RuPaul’s story previously unknown, filled with universal and necessary truths everyone should embrace about identity and acceptance' Jane Fonda, Academy Award winning actress

'RuPaul will live forever. Like Cleopatra. Like Shakespeare. Not only as a creator but as a teacher and great source of inspiration. His memoir is deeply felt and beautifully written' Isaac Mizrahi, producer & fashion icon

'More invaluable wisdom from my favorite GuRu' Thandiwe Newton, Emmy & BAFTA award winning actress

'There are few people in history who can invent themselves and, through sheer love and determination, can transcend that invention. Bowie was one of those people and so is RuPaul. This book crisscrosses the United States like a cross-dressing On The Road. Pathos, wisdom and humor collide to enlighten the reader― I just could not put it down' Daphne Guinness, fashion designer, actress, and musician

'RuPaul’s memoir is brilliant, bold, beautiful, and brave. This book has balls' Michael Patrick King, writer/director Sex and the City and …And Just Like That

'RuPaul has poured his soul into his biography. And it’s a beautiful one' Lee Daniels, director

‘It is a memoir that is by turns shocking, poignant, fantastically egotistical and often wise. Each sentence is recognisably in RuPauls’s voice – arch, funny given to epigrammatic pronouncements – distilling the cadences and assorted pop culture references that have come to characterise his TV persona. Consistently entertaining’ Observer

‘Gossipy, raunchy’ Evening Standard

‘Richly evocative, emotionally poignant and brimming with inspiration to swim against the current, RuPaul Charles’ memoir-cum-manifesto defies genres – much like the man himself’ iNews

About the Author

RuPaul Andre Charles is an actor, musician, television personality, and internationally beloved drag queen. He produces and hosts RuPaul's Drag Race, which has received 12 Primetime Emmy Awards, including 6 for Outstanding Host, and has been the inspiration for international versions in 15 countries and several spinoffs including the popular Drag Race: All Stars and Celebrity Drag Race. He also hosts the podcast RuPaul: What's the Tee? with Michelle Visage.