Drag Queen: 9

A gay, urban professional's life is thrown upside down when he finds out he has a twin brother who is a drag queen, a discovery that begins a hilarious saga of musical numbers, leather-bar trysts, and mistaken identities.

With titles like Rodi's (Fag Hag, Closet Case), subtlety is certainly not an issue; his latest gay-themed romp proves no exception. As Mitchell Sayer's Mame-ish mama sets out to join a Tibetan convent (in Wisconsin), she tells her lawyer son that he has a twin brother. Upright, uptight Mitch discovers that brother Donald is?drum roll, please?a drag queen, singing at Chicago's Tam-Tam Club as Kitten Kaboodle, the Doyenne of Despair. So begins a sporadically madcap tale of Boy Meets Brother, Boy Loses Brother, Boy Gets Brother?and (temporarily), Boy Becomes Brother. Unfortunately, for every amusing one-liner and vignette (a department-store cosmetics demo by a Middle European emigre is a gem), there's a misfire or a bit of heavy-handed philosophizing. Though this novel's parts are better than its whole, the story's gentle sweetness makes it hard to dislike. Ultimately, readers who can appreciate such drag names as Tequila Mockingbird, May Oui and Barbarella Fitzgerald will be tickled lavender by these escapades; others may believe, like one of Mitch's boyfriends, that "the only good queen is one who's been anointed... in Westminster Abbey."
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The same day his mother announces to Chicago attorney Mitchell Sayer that she's joining a Buddhist convent and giving away all her money, she tells him he's adopted and has an identical twin he's never met. Later, as Mitchell waits for his brother at the Tam-Tam Club, he hears himself called from the stage and learns thereby that brother Donald Sweet is also drag performer Miss Kitten Kaboodle. Mitchell runs in shock and embarrassment from the club. He thinks that drag queens hinder society's acceptance of "normal" gay people like himself. There follows a series of misadventures such as Miss Kitten coming to visit Mitchell at his conservative law firm and meeting one of Mitchell's matronly adoptive sisters. Camp novelist Rodi's drag romp ends up with Mitchell not only overcoming his prejudice against drag queens but riding as one in a gay pride parade. Rodi scores again with another highly appealing read for gay and gay-friendly readers. Charles Harmon

The author of What They Did to Princess Paragon (LJ 4/15/94) has fashioned a breezy, affectionate, behind-the-scenes look at the world of drag. Mitchell Sayer's very well ordered life as a gay urban professional is turned upside down when his adoptive mother tells him that he has a twin brother. A search takes Mitch to the Tam Tam Club, where he finds his brother performing as Kitten Kaboodle, the ever-fabulous doyenne of Chicago drag. The plot takes many twists and turns as Mitch learns to loosen up and love his brother rather than try to change him. We meet some other interesting characters along the way, including Mitch's ex-lover Simon, a leather queen. The surprise ending leaves the reader wondering just which twin is which. Rodi's wry humor carries the story along at a fast clip. Both gay and straight readers should enjoy this novel, and fans of last year's hit movie, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, should also take note. Recommended for adult fiction collections, particularly in urban public and academic libraries.?Howard E. Miller, Alliance Blue Cross & Blue Shield Lib., St. Louis
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.