Showing titles in Biographies & Memoirs

In this fabulous, fashion-forward guide, transgender icons Gigi Gorgeous and Gottmik discuss the ins and outs of being transgender with their honest, hilarious, and GORGEOUS tales of what it means to be true to oneself - and they've picked up a few friends along the way. Whether you're embarking on your own transgender journey or seeking the knowledge to be the best ally you can be, there is something to be learned from every story they tell. Join the conversation with Gigi and Gottmik as they get real.

For over half a century, Child has collaborated with the world’s most celebrated artists creating timeless classics, such as Bon Jovi’s “Livin' On A Prayer” and “You Give Love A Bad Name,” as well as Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca” and “The Cup Of Life,” amongst his vast catalog. But in his memoir, Child himself takes center stage to share his transformational story of a misfit outsider to cultural pacesetter.

Winner of the Stonewall Israel Fishman Nonfiction Award and the Jeanne Córdova Prize This powerful and deeply personal memoir in essays “reflects on history, philosophy, and love while living with head trauma” (The New York Times Book Review). “An infuriatingly gorgeous, important book...

Jonathan ha 31 anni nel 2016, un giorno qualsiasi di gennaio gli viene la febbre e non va più via, una febbretta, costante, spossante, che lo ghiaccia quando esce, lo fa sudare di notte quasi nelle vene avesse acqua invece che sangue. Aspetta un mese, due, cerca di capire, fa analisi, ha pronta grazie alla rete un'infinità di autodiagnosi, pensa di avere una malattia incurabile, mortale, pensa di essere all'ultimo stadio. La sua paranoia continua fino al giorno in cui non arriva il test all'HIV e la realtà si rivela: Jonathan è sieropositivo, non sta morendo, quasi è sollevato.

From choirboy to drag act, grandson to mentor, poet to lover, Dean Atta has played many roles in his life. In this formally inventive, candid and courageous book, he explores what he has carried in his body: wins and losses, shame and pride, pain and joy. Dean also investigates how radical self-acceptance and a willingness to abide with discomfort open up the possibility of a life lived beyond definition: a person unlimited.

In 1991, when he was 13 years old, Lenny Duncan stepped out of his house in West Philadelphia, walked to the Greyhound station, and bought a ticket - the start of his great American adventure. Today Duncan, who inspired and challenged audiences with his breakout first book, Dear Church, brings us a deeply personal story about growing up Black and queer in the US. In his characteristically powerful voice, he recounts hitchhiking across the country, spending time in solitary confinement, battling for sobriety, and discovering a deep faith.

Eve Adams was a rebel. Born Chawa Zloczewer into a Jewish family in Poland, Adams emigrated to the United States in 1912. The young woman befriended anarchists, sold radical publications, took a new name, and ran lesbian-and-gay-friendly speakeasies in Chicago and New York. Then, in 1925, Adams risked all to write and publish a book titled Lesbian Love. In The Daring Life and Deadly Times of Eve Adams, acclaimed historian Jonathan Ned Katz has recovered the extraordinary story of an early daring activist. 

Hilarious and bawdy musings on disability, sex, family, and Hollywood, from Emmy-winning writer and creator of the Netflix series Special. This program is read by the author. "[Ryan] O’Connell’s high-spirited reading makes this one of the most entertaining audiobooks of the year." —Library...

Ryan never envisioned just how far his football career would take him. But bubbling under the surface of his entire NFL career was a collision course between his secret sexuality and his hidden drug use. As injuries mounted and his daily intake of opioids reached a near-lethal level, he wrote his suicide note to his parents and plotted his death. Yet, someone had been watching. A member of the Chiefs organization stepped in, recognizing the signs of drug addiction. Ryan reluctantly sought psychological help, and it was there that he revealed his lifelong secret for the very first time.

“A first-rate look at one of the world’s greatest and most misunderstood dynasties” (Christopher Andersen, #1 New York Times bestselling author)—the Getty family—perfect for fans of Succession and House of Gucci. Oil magnate J. Paul Getty, once the richest man in the world, is the...

A soulful memoir of desire and a woman’s midlife quest to let go—in jazz and in life. Lisa—a classically trained pianist, wife, and mother—yearns for something she can’t define. After she begins a study of jazz improv with an outspoken, trailblazing musician from the ’70s girl band era, a woman who encourages Lisa to let go musically and emotionally, life takes an unexpected, irrevocable turn. When they become lovers, what began as a desire to learn jazz becomes a lesson in letting go: with music, with an old way of living, and finally with life itself.

Andrew Sean Greer can’t wait to get home to San Francisco after a writer’s residency in Kansas. But when his mother, Sandra, decides to come along for the ride, he has a new goal: get her to crack a smile at every stop, whether breathtaking or breathtakingly kitschy. He’s always known his mother to be as efficient and serious as a chemist (which she happens to be), always in gray, eyebrow cocked, and handling challenges with grace. To mix things up, Andrew develops an elaborate itinerary of planned chaos.

Raising My Rainbow is Lori Duron’s frank, heartfelt, and brutally funny account of her and her family's adventures of distress and happiness raising a gender-creative son. Whereas her older son, Chase, is a Lego-loving, sports-playing boy's boy, her younger son, C.J., would much rather twirl around in a pink sparkly tutu, with a Disney Princess in each hand while singing Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi".

Patricia Highsmith, author of classics such as The Talented Mr. Ripley and Strangers on a Train, was a lesbian and a writer who defied simple categorization. Marijane Meaker is the author of more than 40 books. Meaker and Highsmith met in New York City, became lovers, and embarked on a romance amidst the bohemian set of Greenwich Village and the literary crowd of Fire Island. Written with wit and brassy candor, this is a revealing look at a controversial icon of popular American fiction.

“A defining chronicle of strength and spirit” (Kirkus Reviews), Surpassing Certainty is a portrait of a young woman searching for her purpose and place in the world—without a road map to guide her. This memoir “should be required reading for your 20s” (Cosmopolitan). A few months...

Philippa Ryder's journey to embracing her true self as a transgender woman has left an indelible mark on Irish culture. Growing up as a boy in the 1960s, she felt out of place, drawn to dressing in her sister's and later her wife's clothes. It wasn't until the 1990s that she discovered she wasn't alone in these feelings. Navigating the challenging path of transitioning from male to female, 'My Name is Philippa' tells an extraordinary tale of love, understanding, and the unwavering support of a family who stayed united as Philippa transformed from husband and father to wife and mother.

"An intimate and important memoir of deconstructing and reconstructing faith after abuse ... a spiritual memoir that does not shy away from abuse, queerness, or the multifaceted character of God." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A courageous, vulnerable, and spellbinding memoir that explores...

On her journey to near stardom in the music business, Monica Madrid wound up a broke, demoralized alcoholic. Through the twists and turns of a colorful life, she rubbed elbows with Prince, Rick James, and other artists and was in a musical battle with Tupac Shakur. She came close to fulfilling her childhood dream, but once it was stripped from her grasp, her path led to money, prestige - and broken relationships. Monica's story is one of loss, love, and redemption.

In 1995, the FDA approved the release of protease inhibitors, the first effective treatment for AIDS. For countless people, the drug offered a reprieve from what had been a death sentence; for others, it was too late. In the US alone, over 318,000 people had already died from AIDS-related complications - among them the singer Michael Callen and the poet Essex Hemphill. Meticulously researched and evocatively told, Hold Tight Gently is the celebrated historian Martin Duberman’s poignant memorial to those lost to AIDS and to two of the great unsung heroes....

Jeremy Ivester is a transgender man. Thirty years ago, his parents welcomed him into the world as what they thought was their daughter. As a child, he preferred the toys and games our society views as masculine. He kept his hair short and wore boys’ clothing. They called him a tomboy. That’s what he called himself. By high school, when he showed no interest in flirting, his parents thought he might be lesbian. At 20, he wondered if he was asexual. At 23, he surgically removed his breasts.