Diary of a Drag Queen

by Daniel Harris

The sudden break-up with his long-term partner along with the untimely death of a close friend sent cultural critic Daniel Harris—a top gay journalist whose literary and cultural criticism has been praised by Janet Malcolm, Alexander Cockburn, Dale Peck, and Gary Indiana—into a deep depression. Complicating matters was his accompanying mid-life crisis, which entailed facing up to the harsh realities—and daunting challenges—of an aging gay man finding a new partner in today’s youth-worshipping gay world.

Then Harris discovered for the first time dozens of men of all ages and sizes online shopping for sex partners in cyberspace. But he soon found that more than just gay men trolled gay sex sites; plenty of “straight” guys sought male sex buddies online, too, but often with one their male partners had to dress in women’s clothing. Although Harris had never before done drag and had no prior interest in women’s accessories, he set to work learning the ropes of cross-dressing once easy access to this pool of handsome, desirable and frequently off-limit men was made available to him. Diary of a Drag Queen is a revealing, comic, and sexually charged chronicle of hundreds of one-night stands in high heels.

Genres: Biography, LGBT, Memoir, Nonfiction

280 pages, Paperback

First published July 10, 2005

About the author

Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.

Reviews

[Devon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The back of this book says it is "...a hilarious journey through the world of the cross-dresser."

Wrong. This book is not hilarious. In fact, it is incredibly depressing.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one left me with mixed feelings.

Daniel Harris offers up some hilarious anecdotes about his year in drag--his quest for a wig is side-stitchingly funny--as well as some incredibly astute insights into what goes on between our ears regarding what we do betweeen the sheets.

At the same time, the underlying story is a rather sad and depressing account of a man confronting the remorseless advance of time, the realization that his life has not exactly lived up to his own expectations, and a crushing sense of lonliness which he attempts to stave off through a series of one-night stands.

Diary of a Drag Queen definitely has it's moments, but it's not something to pick up if you're looking for a light-hearted read--it's too dark for that.

[Dusty · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not finish the book. I really did not like the long winded sentences describing something some small. I love details but this was just too much! I felt the author was bitter, negative, and loved to show off his large vocabulary of words.

[Bibliophiles · Rating 1 out of 5]

Damn, Daniel - or, Self-loathing for femme gay men 101

An incredibly depressing book, full of self-loathing and contempt for gender non-conformity. The narrative chronicles the author's quest for more sex by turning to drag, and does that at great length, tediously, and with enough bitterness to make the narrative actively unpleasant to the reader. There are many uplifting, honest tales of gender nonconformity by people who do not identify with their birth gender, or indeed any gender. This ain't it. The author needs a hefty dose of antidepressants, therapy, and a circle of friends who aren't shallower than a puddle on a NYC street after a shower.
I suppose the only good thing about this book is our capacity to wonder how far we've come from being actively unpleasant to femme gay men within a few years.

Seriously, be kinder to yourself and to others.

[Alvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A shockingly honest portrayal/deconstruction of a middle aged man's dip into the netherworld (and yes, I'm afraid it still is a netherworld) of cross-dressing internet hook ups.

[Jason Mock · Rating 1 out of 5]

The narrator of this "diary" was unlikeable, condescending and FULL
of self-loathing. The only entertaining part of this book was
the online banter/insults between the competing drag queens.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. I took this book out from the library on a whim (I judged a book by it's cover). It was not what I expected at all and could never grow to like the author

[Chrissy Carpenter · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok but not as comical as I thought it would be