P.S. Burn This Letter Please, Craig Olsen
P.S. Burn This Letter Please, Craig Olsen
List: $31.99 | Sale: $22.40
Club: $15.99

P.S. Burn This Letter Please
The fabulous and fraught birth of modern drag, in the queens' own words

Author: Craig Olsen

Narrator: Tony Casey (The Established, Shanda Leer)

Unabridged: 3 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/15/2023


Synopsis

With an introduction from RuPaul's Drag Race winner Sasha Velour

Their greatest act of resistance was simply existing

In the 1950s, as now, queer people were attracted to the Big Apple because they were able to find work as drag performers and female impersonators in a small number of Lower East Side clubs.

Decades before Stonewall, they occupied the margins of society, determined to live as they pleased, despite of the attentions of the police. Sometimes reduced to stealing to get their costumes, these girls were unstoppable, fearless and fabulous.

When a cache of their letters were discovered, these individuals were given a voice where they had traditionally been silenced. The letters they wrote bear witness to a time when gay community was hard to find.

Blending social, political and cultural history with memoir, this book is an unforgettable and deeply moving encounter with a generation of incredible survivors and a necessary account of how modern drag culture was born.

A note on our narrator: Tony Casey - The Established, Shanda Leer - takes inspiration from queer icons like Oscar Wilde, Lily Savage, and Carol Burnett, and has developed his career and artistry thanks to the paths laid out by queer people and performers as those captured in these powerful letters.

About Craig Olsen

Craig Olsen is an entrepreneur who has worked across art, podcasting, production and interior design. A graduate from Cornish College of the Arts with a BFA in Theatre, Craig can be seen on film as well as numerous network and cable television series, most notably in drag. Craig currently sits as Chairman of the Board for Los Angeles' premier contemporary ballet company Barak Ballet and is a trustee of the Edward F. Limato Foundation. After discovering a cache of personal letters by prominent drag performers in 1950s New York City, Mr. Olsen embarked on what has now become a lifelong journey to preserve and illuminate the courage of those that have set the stage for the current success of the LGBTQ+ community. Craig is directing his future focus toward preserving gay history.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Amadeus on June 04, 2025

likte den veldig godt når den handlet om brevene og historiene til drag queensene på 50-tallet, men syntes at delen fra forfatterens liv var litt kjedelig sammenlignet med alt annet i boka......more

Goodreads review by Reid on January 10, 2024

A super interesting piece of pre-Stonewall queer history......more

Goodreads review by Katherine on January 11, 2025

just fantastic......more

Goodreads review by Miguel on November 17, 2023

Craig Olsen opens the world, in his rare find of letters from a close knit group of drag queens, the Boombatzas, from the 1950’s all addressed to ‘Reno Martin’. Olsen does an excellent job at navigating and piecing together the lives of the people who make up the Boombatzas with such care, that can......more

Goodreads review by Leeni on January 30, 2025

Hurjia ihmiskohtaloita ihan sivulauseessa, mutta aika paljon kimallusta. Kirja on tiivis ja koottu tavallaan aika pienistä materiaaleista, mutta se oli silti kiehtovaa luettavaa. Aikamatka ja sisäpiirin katsaus 50/60-lukujen New Yorkin queer-kulttuuriin.......more


Quotes

There are vital, vibrant stories crying out to be told from the history of the drag scene, especially now that it faces a resurgence of bigotry and hostility Guardian

P.S. Burn This Letter Please reveals a fascinating world of personal triumph and tragedy Attitude

A delightful collection of newly discovered letters between a fabulous coterie of drag queens who resided in New York City during the 1950s and '60s . . . This charming account combines the poignancy of a coming-of-age narrative, the mordant humor of a gossip column, and the rigor of an archival investigation. It's an essential window into a long-hidden history Publishers Weekly

Written in a distinctive coded language, the letters in P.S Burn This Letter Please are gossipy in tone and full of catty humour but also coloured by the constant fear of exposure, violence or arrest Buzz Magazine

The letters make you want to laugh one minute, cry the next, and then take to the streets and protest because in 2023, history is repeating itself . . . A fascinating book . . . P.S. Burn This Letter Please is a must read about fabulous fashion trailblazers, who dared to defy, who HAD to defy, despite the consequences LA Blade