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Lessons in Drag: A Queer Manual for Academics, Artists, and Aunties
Scholarship and performance combine to show how drag can be a blueprint for critique, care, teaching, and worldmaking.
Lessons in Drag brings to life a vibrant and thought-provoking dialogue between scholar Kareem Khubchandani and his drag persona LaWhore Vagistan. Beginning with an intimate interview, the book unfolds in alternating chapters where the two exchange insights, stories, and critiques. Khubchandani delves into the lessons LaWhore’s drag practice offers about academia—shaping his approaches to research, teaching, and writing—while Vagistan reveals how Khubchandani’s scholarship influences her performances, inspiring her understanding of fashion, music, divas, and aunties. Together, their reflections and conversations weave a compelling tapestry of drag’s instructive power. Witty, bold, and deeply personal, Lessons in Drag is both an invitation to explore drag as a practice and a celebration of its transformative potential.
Lessons in Drag brings to life a vibrant and thought-provoking dialogue between scholar Kareem Khubchandani and his drag persona LaWhore Vagistan. Beginning with an intimate interview, the book unfolds in alternating chapters where the two exchange insights, stories, and critiques. Khubchandani delves into the lessons LaWhore’s drag practice offers about academia—shaping his approaches to research, teaching, and writing—while Vagistan reveals how Khubchandani’s scholarship influences her performances, inspiring her understanding of fashion, music, divas, and aunties. Together, their reflections and conversations weave a compelling tapestry of drag’s instructive power. Witty, bold, and deeply personal, Lessons in Drag is both an invitation to explore drag as a practice and a celebration of its transformative potential.
- GenresQueerNonfiction
300 pages, Paperback
Published October 29, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 12, 2025
Book Review: Lessons in Drag: A Queer Manual for Academics, Artists, and Aunties by Kareem Khubchandani
Rating: 5/5
Kareem Khubchandani’s Lessons in Drag is a dazzling, genre-defying masterpiece that left me intellectually electrified and emotionally stirred. Blending scholarship, memoir, and drag performance into a vibrant dialogue between Khubchandani and his alter ego LaWhore Vagistan, this book is a revelation—a manifesto that reframes drag not just as entertainment but as a radical pedagogy for critique, care, and worldmaking. As someone who’s navigated academia’s rigid structures, I found its insights into research, teaching, and writing (Chapter 5’s “How to Write” is a standout) both validating and revolutionary.
What makes this book extraordinary is its refusal to compartmentalize. Khubchandani and Vagistan’s alternating chapters—switching from razor-sharp academic analysis to campy, aunty-esque wisdom—create a dynamic tension that mirrors drag’s own interplay of artifice and authenticity. The chapter “How to Be a Map” (a metaphor for navigating queer diasporic identity) brought me to tears with its lyrical vulnerability, while Vagistan’s musings on fashion as resistance had me cackling with recognition. At times, I craved deeper dives into specific performances or audience reactions to ground the theoretical brilliance, but this feels intentional—a reminder that drag, like knowledge, thrives in the spaces between certainty and play.
By the final page, I felt both challenged and cherished. This isn’t just a book about drag; it performs drag’s transformative magic, inviting readers to reimagine their own work—whether academic, artistic, or auntie-ish—as acts of glitter-dusted rebellion.
Summary Takeaways:
-A glitter bomb for the ivory tower—Lessons in Drag proves academia could use more sequins and shade.
-Khubchandani and Vagistan are the duo we need: part bell hooks, part RuPaul, wholly revolutionary.
-Drag isn’t just a performance; it’s a survival manual. This book is the proof—with footnotes and false lashes.
-For fans of Trick Mirror and Gender Trouble, but with better wigs and hotter takes.
-The most thrilling syllabus you’ll ever read—assign this to your book club, classroom, or next protest.
Thank you to the University of Chicago Press and Edelweiss for the advance copy. Lessons in Drag is essential reading for anyone who believes knowledge should sparkle—a dazzling, disruptive gift to queer thought and beyond.
Rating: 5/5
Kareem Khubchandani’s Lessons in Drag is a dazzling, genre-defying masterpiece that left me intellectually electrified and emotionally stirred. Blending scholarship, memoir, and drag performance into a vibrant dialogue between Khubchandani and his alter ego LaWhore Vagistan, this book is a revelation—a manifesto that reframes drag not just as entertainment but as a radical pedagogy for critique, care, and worldmaking. As someone who’s navigated academia’s rigid structures, I found its insights into research, teaching, and writing (Chapter 5’s “How to Write” is a standout) both validating and revolutionary.
What makes this book extraordinary is its refusal to compartmentalize. Khubchandani and Vagistan’s alternating chapters—switching from razor-sharp academic analysis to campy, aunty-esque wisdom—create a dynamic tension that mirrors drag’s own interplay of artifice and authenticity. The chapter “How to Be a Map” (a metaphor for navigating queer diasporic identity) brought me to tears with its lyrical vulnerability, while Vagistan’s musings on fashion as resistance had me cackling with recognition. At times, I craved deeper dives into specific performances or audience reactions to ground the theoretical brilliance, but this feels intentional—a reminder that drag, like knowledge, thrives in the spaces between certainty and play.
By the final page, I felt both challenged and cherished. This isn’t just a book about drag; it performs drag’s transformative magic, inviting readers to reimagine their own work—whether academic, artistic, or auntie-ish—as acts of glitter-dusted rebellion.
Summary Takeaways:
-A glitter bomb for the ivory tower—Lessons in Drag proves academia could use more sequins and shade.
-Khubchandani and Vagistan are the duo we need: part bell hooks, part RuPaul, wholly revolutionary.
-Drag isn’t just a performance; it’s a survival manual. This book is the proof—with footnotes and false lashes.
-For fans of Trick Mirror and Gender Trouble, but with better wigs and hotter takes.
-The most thrilling syllabus you’ll ever read—assign this to your book club, classroom, or next protest.
Thank you to the University of Chicago Press and Edelweiss for the advance copy. Lessons in Drag is essential reading for anyone who believes knowledge should sparkle—a dazzling, disruptive gift to queer thought and beyond.
May 18, 2026
Lessons in Drag is a bold, fascinating, and deeply original work that beautifully blends scholarship, performance, and personal reflection.
Kareem Khubchandani creates an insightful and engaging exploration of drag’s transformative power, making the book both intellectually rich and emotionally resonant.
Overall, it’s a compelling and inspiring read for anyone interested in queer thought, creativity, and cultural critique.
Kareem Khubchandani creates an insightful and engaging exploration of drag’s transformative power, making the book both intellectually rich and emotionally resonant.
Overall, it’s a compelling and inspiring read for anyone interested in queer thought, creativity, and cultural critique.
April 24, 2026
Loved this blend of academic writing and more casual storytelling. I especially loved the chapter on pedagogy and what drag has opened up space for in the classroom/with students.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews