RuPaulRecensioner

This is a sober objective look at the life of RuPaul by RuPaul. He starts with his fractured family with his bitter mother and mostly absent father. He covers his partying, love life and his never ending quest for fame in fortune with all its ups and downs. Rupaul has matured and is now sober and accomplished. He looks back at his wild days with a steady even handed gaze. I really learned to respect RuPaul and where he is now and his struggle to get there.

The House of Hidden Meanings

I Picked Up This Book Because: I’m a fan.

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: BC Public Library
Dates Read: 3/10/24 - 3/12/24
Stars: 3.5 Stars
Narrator(s): RuPaul

I wanted to score this higher. I wanted it to be a 5-star read but at the end of the day I didn’t come away shocked, inspired or with any strong emotion. I felt it was a mostly straightforward narrative and though a lot was shared it felt very surface level.½

Love RuPaul but this self-help book was geared more towards drag queens than regular folks. There's knowledge to be gleamed from his words, but I've read better.

It was a fine book. Nothing wrong with it. I imagine the pictures help. Audiobook was nice to listen to Ru's voice but advice seemed to be random have no flow.

I love RuPaul, and her love of simplistic self-help is part of her charm. But Jesus Christ, she really loves simplistic self-help. Hearing her narrate the audiobook on a road trip passes the time though.

GuRu

I Picked Up This Book Because: Need a change in pace from what I have been reading.

The Story:

The one and only RuPaul gives some sage advice in signature Ru style. This was a quick listen and I slightly regret not having the pictures that were spoken about but it did not take away from the lessons.

The Random Thoughts:

#LibraryLoveChallenge

4 Stars

I love Rupaul but this books jumps all over the place. “Working It” is much better imo, and if you can find it "Lettin' it all hang out" is the best.

#1 book. Believe.

"In this book I'm going to show you that I am just like everybody else. I hope when you are done reading this book, you'll put it down and say 'Oh my god! I've just read my own life story.' That's what I mean by letting it all hang out."

"One of the questions I am so often asked is, 'What do I call you? He or she?' And I say 'You can call me he, you can call me she, you can call me Regis and Kathie Lee, just so long as you call me.'"

"My immediate family, who were my role models and heroes, were all feminine. They were showing their emotions and wearing them in the same way they wore their clothes; when they were sad they cried, when something was funny they laughed out loud, and when something confused them they asked questions. I've always found strength in that, and comfort in my own femininity. I've always loved it, expressed it, lived it."

"I just couldn't shake the sensation that I didn't belong, and that this was not my real home. You know what? It isn't. Planet Earth is a high school from hell, and we are all just students here. When I realized that, I screamed out loud. I've always felt like a foreign exchange student, a resident alien. You come here for one thing only, and that is to learn. I used to spend a lot of my life waiting for the day I could quit school, but then I came to realize that so long as we are alive we never leave school. Life is a series of high schools, one after the other. And if you don't study, do your homework, and learn enough in one lifetime you just get sent back and have to do it all over again."

"Then when I was four I saw Diana Ross and the Supremes singing 'Baby Love' on the Ed Sullivan show. It wasn't their first time on, but my first time seeing them. It was love at first sight. I remember saying to myself, 'There, that one there, the one in the middle, that's me!' I recognized her energy as my energy. She looked so happy, so radiantly happy to be there, and it just blew me away... I've heard tell that when Oprah saw her she said, 'Colored girl on television! Colored girl on television!'"

"He said, 'Don't take life so seriously.'.. It took me a few years, but now I totally know what he means, and it's probably the most important thing anyone's ever told me. The point is that life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death. To put your problems into proper perspective, you need to realize that as serious as they may seem to you, compared to the plight of the rest of the world, they're not half bad. Andy Warhol's tip when you get upset and freaked out about something is to sit back and say, "So what?' So what? because believe me, the rest of the Universe does not give a shit about your problems. So what? because in reality your problem is probably no big deal. And finally, So what? because there may not be anything that you can do about it- these things often have to unravel themselves, and there is nothing you can do other than have the grace and patience to sit them out."

"I've never been good with cliques. Cliques are all about people trying to find security in groups... People aren't really together in cliques, and the sense of security that they feel is just an illusion. Eventually, all cliques disintegrate. That's why I've always felt secure in my insecurity."

".. while marching up the street, I looked over the shoulder of the National Guardsmen and into the eyes of one of the Klansmen. And our eyes locked. I realized then that many of them probably liked Michael Jackson's Thriller album, Haagen-Dazs ice cream, and springtime in Georgia. What's the brouhaha? ... When I looked that person in the eyes I realized that I was looking at myself. He had found a way to bring attention to himself and validate himself. And so had I. No matter what uniform we may be waring, underneath it all we are all the same-- unique individuals, alone, aching to belong."

"During the taping of the 'Geraldo' show, I said there was more to clubbing than just kids dressing up. It was a sign of people being free spirits. I said, 'These bodies, this flesh and blood, they too are drag, because they are just temporary outfits for our eternal souls, Amen.'"

"There are so many rules imposed on us about what we should do, what we should say. Boys should be boys, and girls should be girls. But says who? Little boys should wear blue and little girls pink, you should not wear white shoes after Labor Day, you should not pick your nose. Tell me who says that? Where do these rules come from in the first place? Who says you can't bend over backward and eat bugs if you want to?"

A new hero for Jupiter in Cancer! Haha.

Written about 25 years ago from present day. This is RuPaul just as she was making a name for herself. Long before RuPaul's drag race or any of the other things that she's done since the millennium. Shortly after the club kid craze and her launching herself on the world as Supermodel of the World. She does have a positive joyful attitude throughout the book and starts off with her childhood and goes forward. Several photos where you wonder what she was thinking at the time lol.

I know next to nothing about RuPaul, but I picked this book up and I read their introduction and actually wanted to read it. I flipped through a few pages and saw glamour shots with quotes. After a few more pages, I began to wonder - where is the rest of the book after the hype of the introduction? When I hit the end of the ebook I realized there weren't any self-help tips. I was disappointed and irritated. I got a few good quotes, but not the life-changing insights that were promised. If you are a RuPaul fan then this is the book for you: you will get the wit, the photos and more insight into your hero. If you don't know or care about RuPaul, this is not the book to spend a lot of time on.

This book was a lot of fun and filled will some great quotes and thoughts on life and life truths from RuPaul, accompanied by some fantastic photos. Inspiring and fabulous as well as a good pick me up when feeling down too!

I love RuPaul, but this was just not that great.
A sort of mix between self help and memoir...it just felt odd.
My biggest critique was that it was so very random, like no thought was put into the flow of the book. One minute he's giving life advice and then he's talking about always wearing heels.
There was some solid one liners in the book, some feel good mantra's that are great quotes, but without any depth or any real conversation beyond the quotes, it fell flat.
I would have loved for him to dive deeper into his mantra's and quotes and explore why they mean something to him, or why they should mean something to me. It just lacked any real depth, which made it all feel less then the desired effect.
He also stole quotes from some of his queens from his show, which I didn't really love.
I expected a lot more, thinking this would be full of solid advice, and instead left with some one liners, and feeling very scattered without any structure to his advice.
The only reason it's rated at a 3 is because there were some great mantra's in there.

Workin It: RuPauls Guide To Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Style🍒🍒🍒🍒
By RuPaul
2010

Wit, Wisdom, Sass and fashion / beauty advice....something for everyone in this book.RuPaul brings out the style in all of us. The sarcasm mixed with his upbeat positive outlook make me love RuPaul.
Keep being you. We need more of you!!

Well, what's to say? I have always been fascinated by RuPaul's drag-a-lusciousness. I enjoyed the photos and some of the "advice" written inside, but it all feels like a regurgitation of a mash up of Oprah, Deepak Chopra, and Eckhart Tolle. Wait, those last two guys were on Oprah!

There's really not much original thought outside of Ru's own personal stories. The pictures were fun, from a purely theatrical point of view. Have I mentioned how much I like glitter and sparklies?

"Workin' It!" will provide helpful and provocative tips on fashion, beauty, style and confidence for girls and boys, straight and gay - and everyone in between! No one knows more about life, self-expression and style than RuPaul! With photos by Mathu Andersen from the new season of RuPaul's Drag Race and a fresh look at style and inner beauty, "Workin' It!" will pick up where the show leaves off. The book will be as colourful, fun, and intriguing as RuPaul, with insights into makeup, clothing choices and the illusion of drag. Fans of RuPaul will get piece of Ru's philosophy on style and attitude - and how it's more than the clothes that make the man, or woman! With four colour photos throughout and a fresh, funky design "Workin' It!" will be the perfect guide to RuPaul - part style guide, part confidence manifesto, and entirely fabulous! And, words of wisdom from your favourite contestants on Season One of RuPaul's Drag Race including, Nina Flowers, Ongina, Rebecca Glasscock, and more!

In or out of drag, RuPaul is the most non-judgemental, inspiring, supportive person on the planet. If this book doesn't make you feel good about yourself, and want to be a better person, I don't know what will!

I love Ru. But what I was looking for was more of a memoir, and not a fashion book. Still a good read and Ru has some interesting comments on spirituality as well.

See full review here: http://thesteadfastreader.blogspot.com/2014/01/shantay-you-stay-saturday-lettin-...

Fabulous. Conveys a positive image while looking into the life of a Superstar. Bravo, RuPaul.

This book is part style guide, part lifestyle guide, part autobiography and part RuPaul photos. I did like it, but for some reason it made me like him less. I guess I never knew much about him, but by the end of the book he got on my nerves.