In an exciting revelation for fans of the iconic drag queen, RuPaul Charles has officially announced the upcoming release of his deeply personal memoir, “The House of Hidden Meanings”. The news broke in a heartfelt video posted on RuPaul’s Instagram on October 4, 2023.
Scheduled for release on March 5, 2024, this memoir promises to offer readers an intimate look into the life of the legendary drag superstar. RuPaul’s journey unfolds, taking us from his humble beginnings in San Diego, where he experienced childhood poverty, to his meteoric rise to global stardom.
From international drag superstar and pop culture icon RuPaul, comes his most revealing and personal work to date-a brutally honest, surprisingly poignant, and deeply intimate memoir of growing up Black, poor, and queer in a broken home to discovering the power of performance, found family, and self-acceptance.
A profound introspection of his life, relationships, and identity, The House of Hidden Meanings is a self-portrait of the legendary icon on the road to global fame and changing the way the world thinks about drag.
Central to RuPaul’s success has been his chameleonic adaptability. From drag icon to powerhouse producer of one of the world’s largest television franchises, RuPaul’s ever-shifting nature has always been part of his brand as both supermodel and super mogul.
Yet that adaptability has made him enigmatic to the public. In this memoir, his most intimate and detailed book yet, RuPaul makes himself truly known.
Stripping away all artifice, RuPaul recounts the story of his life with breath taking clarity and tenderness, bringing his signature wisdom and wit to his own biography. From his early years growing up as a queer Black kid in San Diego navigating complex relationships with his absent father and temperamental mother, to forging an identity in the punk and drag scenes of Atlanta and New York, to finding enduring love with his husband Georges LeBar and self-acceptance in sobriety, RuPaul excavates his own biography, uncovering new truths and insights in his personal history.
Here in RuPaul’s singular and extraordinary story is a manual for living-a personal philosophy that testifies to the value of chosen family, the importance of harnessing what makes you different, and the transformational power of facing yourself fearlessly.
If we’re all born naked and the rest is drag, then this is RuPaul totally out of drag. This is RuPaul stripped bare.
In the candid video announcement, RuPaul shared his excitement and vulnerability, expressing, “After two and a half years, it’s finally here. My memoir. I’m so excited and so anxious at the same time because I reveal so much of myself. You know, this world today, it… it feels so hostile, and it’s such a scary place to be vulnerable in. But I did it. So get ready.”
In his Instagram caption, he emphasized the depth of emotions he poured into this book: “Writing this book left me gooped, gagged, and stripped raw. I’ve learned that vulnerability is strength, but so far, all I feel is nervous as hell, yet super excited to share it with y’all. When all is said and done, it’s just me, Ru.”
“The House of Hidden Meanings” is RuPaul’s fourth book, following his 1996 autobiography “Lettin It All Hang Out”, his 2010 style guide “Workin’ It!: RuPaul’s Guide to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Style”, and his 2018 self-help guidebook “GuRu”. This memoir promises to be his most revealing and personal work yet.
RuPaul’s decision to open up about his life and experiences is a testament to his courage and a gift to his fans who have supported him throughout his remarkable career. Mark your calendars for March 5, 2024, and get ready to dive deep into the world of RuPaul in “The House of Hidden Meanings”.
His memoir is available to pre-order right now and has been published by HarperCollins Publishers and its various imprints worldwide. People in the US can pre-order here. The book is also available internationally and can be pre-ordered here. There seem to be signed editions available in various stores and here in the UK, Waterstones is stocking the signed edition – so buy it now before it sells out (just let us buy it first).
This announcement follows the release of the first episode of series five of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK which saw a jaw-dropping twist that even the queens didn’t expect.
