The House of Hidden Meanings

 The House of Hidden Meanings: A Memoir by RuPaul  256 pp.

As RuPaul says, "We are all born naked, the rest is drag." Beginning with life as a queer kid with the unusual name of RuPaul Andre Charles, growing up with problematic parents in San Diego, through his evolution into a celebrity icon RuPaul doesn't hide the reality of the wild years, the relationships gone bad, homelessness and couch surfing, and extreme substance abuse. RuPaul is his own creation that evolved over many years, surviving the AIDS crisis of the '80s while others fell around him. And then there is the drugs, so many drugs. I find it hard to believe he was able to function as a rising international star while continually using multiple substances. And yet, he did it and became a phenomenon, recognizable in and out of drag around the world. Then there is the moment of realization as his husband, George, enters rehab, that he also needed to rehabilitate himself from what, until then, he thought was just recreational drug use. Unfortunately the book ends before the creation of "RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars" which hopefully will be in a second volume. The audiobook was read by the author.