Lettin' it all hang out : an autobiography

In this book - part autobiography, part how-to manual - drag queen RuPaul comes out and reveals the real person behind the paint and powder, the sequins and the wigs.

He talks of growing up in a house full of exceptional women; he describes a difficult but warm California childhood with the challenges of being "different"; he relates outrageous experiences in the drag scene and the New York underground; and he drops names that include Elizabeth Taylor, Elton John, Courtney Love, Karl Lagerfeld and Diana Ross.

Sprinkled throughout the book are RuPaul's secrets to achieving fame, riches, success and glamour in the 1990s, as well as his worldly observations on being black, being gay and being a drag queen.