Overview

In the 1970s, queer people were openly despised, and drag queens scared the public. Yet this was the era when Doris Fish (born Philip Mills in 1952) painted and padded his way to stardom. He was a leader of the generation that prepared the world not just for drag queens on TV but for a society that is more tolerant and accepting of LGBTQ+ people. How did we get from there to here? In Who Does That Bitch Think She Is? Craig Seligman looks at Doris' life to provide some answers. After moving to San Francisco in the mid-'70s, Doris became the driving force behind years of side-splitting drag shows that were loved as much as you can love throwaway trash-which is what everybody thought they were. No one, Doris included, perceived them as political theatre, when in fact they were accomplishing satire's deepest dream: not just to rail against society, but to change it. From the rise of drag shows to the obsession with camp to the conservative backlash and the onset of AIDS, Seligman adds needed colour and insight to this era in LGBTQ+ history, revealing the origins and evolution of drag.

Full Product Details

9781541702165

Table of Contents

Reviews

An intimate feel to a lively read. Drag culture and camp humor hit it big... --Kirkus This smart, funny, and sexy queer history is a smash. --Publishers Weekly

This smart, funny, and sexy queer history is a smash. --Publishers Weekly

Author Information

Craig Seligman was born in Louisiana and educated at Stanford and Oxford. He has been an editor of The New Yorker, Food & Wine (executive editor), and Salon.com (books editor) and has written criticism for the San Francisco Examiner (where he was a staff film and book critic in the 1980's), The New Yorker, Salon, The New Republic, the Threepenny Review, the Village Voice, Artforum, Bookforum, and The New York Times Book Review (where he remains a frequent contributor).

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available