Tango: My Childhood, Backwards and in High Heels - Paperback

by Justin Vivian Bond (Author)

Hailed as "the greatest cabaret artist of [their] generation," Mx. Justin Vivian Bond makes a brilliant literary debut with this candid and hilarious queer coming-of-age tale (The New Yorker).

Bond recalls in vivid detail how it looked and felt to first discover Mom's lipstick (Iced Watermelon by Revlon). Growing up haunted by their awareness of being "different," Bond began to foster intimate friendships with girls, and to feel increasingly at risk with boys. But when the bully next door wanted to meet in secret, Bond couldn't resist. Their trysts went on for years, making Bond acutely aware of how sexual power and vulnerability can intertwine. With inimitable style, Bond raises issues about LBGTQ adolescence, parenting trans/queer children, and bullying, all while being utterly entertaining.
"Like Bond, the memoir is droll, pensive and filled with zingers teetering between funny and ferocious." --The New York Times
"Reading Tango is like listening to your favorite eccentric cousin or auntie tell you hair-dressing tales of innocence lost and found, friendships forged of adversity, and bullies bewildered by their own perversity. Justin Vivian spins a one-of-a-kind story that you won't be able to put down." --Kate Bornstein, author of Gender Outlaw
"Tango is a raw nerve touching an electric soul, a beautiful book, written with honesty, pain, and joy from one of our great modern day shamans." --Sandra Bernhard, actress

Author Biography

Mx Justin Vivian Bond is a trans-genre artist living in New York City. As a performer both on and Off-Broadway, Mx Bond has received numerous accolades winning an Obie (2001), a Bessie (2004), a Tony nomination (2007), the Ethyl Eichelberger Award (2007), The Peter Reed Foundaton Grant, and a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant for Artists.