How You Get Famous

A ';funny, poignant, dishy, and even enlightening' adventure through a tight-knit world of drag performers making art, mayhem, and dreaming of making it big, this book is ';the story of America now' (Alexander Chee, The New York Times).In How You Get Famous, journalist Nicole Pasulka raucously documents the rebirth of the New York drag scene, following a group of iconoclastic performers with undeniable charisma, talent, and a hell of a lot to prove. In the past decade, drag has become a place where edgy, competitive showoffs can find security in a callous and over priced city, a shot at real money, and a level of recognition queer people rarely achieve. But can drag keep its edge as it travels from the backroom to the main stage? A ';joyful and scrappy' (Esquire) portrait of the 21st-century search for celebrity and community, How You Get Famous is ';dripping in plush detail and drama' (Mother Jones) and ';stitched together with great respect and love' (The Guardian). It's the story of an aimless coat check worker who sweet-talked his way into hosting a drag show at a Brooklyn dive bar, a pair of teenagers sneaking into clubs and pocketing tips to help support their families, and eclectic performers who have managed to land a spot on TV and millions of followersall colliding in an unprecedented account of a subculture on the brink of becoming a cultural phenomenon. ';If you like to have a good time, you want to read this book!'BuzzFeed