upcoming release by Kate Flannery of RuPaul’s Drag Race

Kate Flannery’s Strip Tees is a great read for fledglings of the memoir genre. Having only read a few myself before receiving an advance copy of this book through a NetGalley Giveaway, I likely wouldn’t have given it a second glance otherwise. If you’re of the same mind when it comes to memoirs, give it a chance, and you might find yourself pleasantly surprised.

Not just an interesting subject, readers will discover Strip Tees is written with sass and heart by someone who knows how to tell an interesting story. I found it engaging and easy to read. I was curious about all aspects of her life; this was a person I had never met or heard of before picking up this book, which I think speaks to her writing.

I’d describe this memoir as “brave” for the unflinching way Flannery inspects her past and her own culpability in American Apparel’s escapades. As someone trying to write her own memoir, I can attest to how hard it is to not over-explain the decisions one makes. I also don’t recall Flannery attempting to justify any actions she took, which is another hard ask to make of anyone, as we all make mistakes, especially when we are young and learning.

Flannery does a superb job of telling readers what happened to her and how she made sense of it through the lens of her progressive sex-positive education at Bryn Mawr College, which was later warped by AA’s deeply distorted view of being “sex positive.” It was this confusion that brought on the cognitive dissonance I noticed Flannery struggling with while working at AA.

Finding out how long Flannery stayed with American Apparel after her sexual assault was heartbreaking, but relatable. I think many of us have stayed at a job because we needed the money, with the fear that our skills and our degree (or lack thereof) wouldn’t be enough to get us hired elsewhere. Some people may judge Kate Flannery for her choices or her decision to stay at AA for as long as she did, but what about her choice to come forward and share this painful chapter of her personal history?

The release date for Strip Tees is tentatively set for July 18, 2023.

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250827272/striptees

Kinsey Keys

aspiring memoirist rummaging through my noggin, stubbornly clutching the past to my chest like it’s a newborn babe starved for mother's milk.

See Full Bio