The Naked Civil Servant

LGBTQ+ Books

Crisp, Quentin

Biographies & Memoirs

Fontana Press

In this autobiography, Quentin Crisp describes his unhappy childhood and the stresses of adolescence that led him to London. There in bedsits and cafes he found a world of brutality and comedy, of shortlived jobs and precarious relationships. All of which he faced with humour and intelligence.

Flamingo

How to Become a Virgin

Unabashedly famous after nearly fifty years of obscurity, Crisp writes of the consequences of the film, "The Naked Civil Servant," his recent life as a celebrity, and his love affair with North America

HOW TO BECOME A VIRGIN

This is a book about 'those wicked wicked Wyndhams' â three beautiful, cultured aristocratic sisters born into immense wealth in late Victorian Britain. Rich historical biography to appeal to readers of Georgiana and Stella Tillyard's Aristocrats from brilliant debut writer.
Mary, Madeline and Pamela - the three Wyndham sisters - were raised surrounded by the work of the Pre-Raphaelites, in a family famed for its bohemian closeness. The liberal upbringing of these handsome, intelligent daughters of a maverick politician and an artistic but emotionally unstable mother prompted one family to forbid their offspring ever to play with "those wild Wyndham children".
In adulthood, the sisters became intimate with 'the Souls', an intellectual and flirtatious aristocratic set, whose permissive beliefs scandalised society. Eldest and youngest sister became the objects of press fascination as the confidantes of great statesman - Mary of Prime Minister Arthur Balfour; Pamela of the Liberal politician Edward Grey. Madeline had the only happy marriage of the three.
Their lives were intertwined with some of the most celebrated and scandalous figures of the day: Oscar Wilde, who fell in love with their cousin Bosie Douglas; Marie Stopes, to whom Pamela became patron; and the iconoclast poet Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, lover both of Mary and her mother before her. Their lives would be irrevocably devastated by the horrors of the First World War.
In their first ever biography, Claudia Renton, drawing on a rich archive of letters, charts these women's intimate stories in their own voices, from romantic beginnings through the passions and disappointments of womanhood to the tragedy that brought a definitive end to their era, against the backdrop of the political and social events that shaped their age. Those Wild Wyndhams is an unforgettable historical biography that captures the high drama of this grand family against the political and social events that shaped their age.

Those Wild Wyndhams: Three Sisters at the Heart of Power

Renton, Claudia

Historical

William Collins

In this autobiography, Quentin Crisp describes his unhappy childhood and the stresses of adolescence that led him to London. There in bedsits and cafes he found a world of brutality and comedy, of shortlived jobs and precarious relationships. All of which he faced with humour and intelligence.

Crisp, Quentin (1908-1999)

London : Harper Perennial

Born to Be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey

The definitive biography of Edward Gorey, the eccentric master of macabre nonsense. 
’A genius book about a bookish genius’ Daniel Handler, author of A Series of Unfortunate Events 
From The Gashlycrumb Tinies to The Doubtful Guest, Edward Gorey's wickedly funny and deliciously sinister little books have influenced our culture in innumerable ways, from the works of Tim Burton and Neil Gaiman to Lemony Snicket. Some even call him the Grandfather of Goth. 
But who was this man, who lived with over twenty thousand books and six cats, who roomed with Frank O'Hara at Harvard, and was known – in the late 1940s, no less – to traipse around in full-length fur coats, clanking bracelets, and an Edwardian beard? An eccentric, a gregarious recluse, an enigmatic auteur of whimsically morbid masterpieces, yes – but who was the real Edward Gorey behind the Oscar Wildean pose? 
He published over a hundred books and illustrated works by Samuel Beckett, T.S. Eliot, Edward Lear, John Updike, Charles Dickens, Hilaire Belloc, Muriel Spark, Bram Stoker, Gilbert & Sullivan, and others. At the same time, he was a deeply complicated and conflicted individual, a man whose art reflected his obsessions with the disquieting and the darkly hilarious. 
Based on newly uncovered correspondence and interviews with personalities as diverse as John Ashbery, Donald Hall, Lemony Snicket, Neil Gaiman, and Anna Sui, Born to be Posthumous draws back the curtain on the eccentric genius and mysterious life of Edward Gorey.

Dery, Mark

Humor & Entertainment

The definitive biography of Edward Gorey, the eccentric master of macabre nonsense.’A genius book about a bookish genius’ Daniel Handler, author of A Series of Unfortunate EventsFrom The Gashlycrumb Tinies to The Doubtful Guest, Edward Gorey's wickedly funny and deliciously sinister little books have influenced our culture in innumerable ways, from the works of Tim Burton and Neil Gaiman to Lemony Snicket. Some even call him the Grandfather of Goth.But who was this man, who lived with over twenty thousand books and six cats, who roomed with Frank O'Hara at Harvard, and was known – in the late 1940s, no less – to traipse around in full-length fur coats, clanking bracelets, and an Edwardian beard? An eccentric, a gregarious recluse, an enigmatic auteur of whimsically morbid masterpieces, yes – but who was the real Edward Gorey behind the Oscar Wildean pose?He published over a hundred books and illustrated works by Samuel Beckett, T.S. Eliot, Edward Lear, John Updike, Charles Dickens, Hilaire Belloc, Muriel Spark, Bram Stoker, Gilbert & Sullivan, and others. At the same time, he was a deeply complicated and conflicted individual, a man whose art reflected his obsessions with the disquieting and the darkly hilarious.Based on newly uncovered correspondence and interviews with personalities as diverse as John Ashbery, Donald Hall, Lemony Snicket, Neil Gaiman, and Anna Sui, Born to be Posthumous draws back the curtain on the eccentric genius and mysterious life of Edward Gorey.

‘We stand on the shoulders of giants. Now we learn their names.’\nTHE QUEER BIBLE is a collection of essays written by queer icons, about the queer trailblazers throughout history who inspired them. 
From Elton John on Divine to Graham Norton on Armistead Maupin; Russell Tovey on David Robilliard to Lady Phyll on Moud Goba; Tan France on the Queer Eye cast to Mae Martin on Tim Curry, today’s queer heroes write about the icons that provided a creative inspiration to them. Other contributors include Amelia Abraham, Paula Akpan, Courtney Act, Munroe Bergdorf, Mykki Blanco, Joseph Cassara, David Furnish, Paul Flynn, Paris Lees, Juliet Jacques, Gus Kenworthy, Freddy McConnell, Paul Mendez, Mark Moore, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Hanne Gaby Odiele and Matthew Todd. Each essay is accompanied by exclusive, bespoke illustrations by queer or ally artists, to create a truly beautiful celebration of queer culture. 
Based on the popular website QueerBible.com, founded by model and activist Jack Guinness, this timely collection, edited by him, continues his mission – to create a space dedicated to the celebration of queer history. 
The Queer Bible is a love letter to the LGBTQI+ community and its allies.

The Queer Bible: A beautiful essay collection on queer trailblazers through history, including words from Elton John, Munroe Bergdorf, Graham Norton, Paris Lees, and more

Jack Guinness (Ed.)

'A fascinating and thoughtful exploration of faith in the modern world. If you're wondering why it matters and how to make sense of it, read on.' Clare Balding Is it possible to believe in God and be gay? How does it feel to be excluded from a religious community because of your sexuality? Why do some people still believe being LGBT is a sin? The Book of Queer Prophets contains modern-day epistles from some of our most important thinkers, writers and activists: Jeanette Winterson tackles religious dogma, Amrou Al-Kadhi writes about trying to make it as a Muslim drag queen in London, John Bell writes about his decision to come out later in life, Tamsin Omond remembers getting married in the middle of a protest and Kate Bottley explains her journey to becoming an LGBT ally. Essays from: Jeanette Winterson, Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, Amrou Al-Kadhi, Pádraig Ó Tuama, Garrard Conley, Juno Dawson, Rev. Winnie Varghese, Keith Jarrett, Jay Hulme, Lucy Knight, Tamsin Omond, Erin Clark, Michael Segalov, Jarel Robinson-Brown, John L. Bell, Mpho Tutu van Furth, Karl Rutlidge, Garry Rutter, Rev Rachel Mann, Jack Guiness, Dustin Lance Black, Ric Stott. Afterword: Kate Bottley

The Book of Queer Prophets: 24 Writers on Sexuality and Religion

Parenting & Relationships

From a god-fearing Muslim boy enraptured with their mother, to a vocal, queer drag queen estranged from their family, this is a heart-breaking and hilarious memoir about the author's fight to be true to themselfMy name is Amrou Al-Kadhi - by day. By night, I am Glamrou, an empowered, fearless and acerbic drag queen who wears seven-inch heels and says the things that nobody else dares to. Growing up in a strict Iraqi Muslim household, it didn't take long for me to realise I was different. When I was ten years old, I announced to my family that I was in love with Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone. The resultant fallout might best be described as something like the Iraqi version of Jerry Springer: The Opera. And that was just the beginning. This is the story of how I got from there to here: about my teenage obsession with marine biology, and how fluid aquatic life helped me understand my non-binary gender identity; about my two-year scholarship at Eton college, during which I wondered if I could forge a new identity as a British aristocrat (spoiler alert: it didn't work); about discovering the transformative powers of drag while at university (and how I very nearly lost my mind after I left); and about how, after years of rage towards it, I finally began to understand Islam in a new, queer way. Most of all, this is a book about my mother. It's the journey of how we lost and found each other, about forgiveness, understanding, hope - and the life-long search for belonging.

Life as a Unicorn: A Journey from Shame to Pride and Everything in Between

Al-Kadhi, Amrou

Fourth Estate

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Biographies & Memoirs Books

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books on the Biographies & Memoirs subject. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Naked Civil Servant

The Naked Civil Servant

HOW TO BECOME A VIRGIN

Those Wild Wyndhams: Three Sisters at the Heart of Power

The Naked Civil Servant

Born to Be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey

Born to Be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey

The Queer Bible: A beautiful essay collection on queer trailblazers through history, including words from Elton John, Munroe Bergdorf, Graham Norton, Paris Lees, and more

The Book of Queer Prophets: 24 Writers on Sexuality and Religion

Life as a Unicorn: A Journey from Shame to Pride and Everything in Between