Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert - by Bob the Drag Queen (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Books of 2025 by Pride - Best New Books of Spring 2025 by Bustle - Most Anticipated Books of 2025 by LitHub - Biggest Books of March by Book Riot - Most Anticipated Books of March by Goodreads

Featuring two new songs written for the audiobook and performed by Bob the Drag Queen!

"Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert is magnificent! I want to send to the folks who do the Nobel Prize for Literature. I don't know them, but I want them to read this!" --Whoopi Goldberg

"It's a knockout." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"An emotional exploration of religion, external and internalized homophobia, the pressure of progressing Black liberation, and the importance of revisiting the past." --New York magazine

From RuPaul's Drag Race winner, Traitors contestant, and host of HBO's We're Here comes an inventive, wondrous novel about American hero Harriet Tubman that remixes history into a fresh, dynamic novel about love, freedom, salvation, and hip-hop.

In an age of miracles where our greatest heroes from history have magically, unexplainably returned to shake us out of our confusion and hate, Harriet Tubman is back, and she has a lot to say.

Harriet Tubman and four of the enslaved persons she led to freedom want to tell their story in a unique way. Harriet wants to create a hip-hop album and live show about her life, and she needs a songwriter to help her.

She calls upon Darnell, a once successful hip-hop producer who was topping the charts before being outed on a BET talk show. Darnell has no idea what to expect when he steps into the studio with Harriet, only that they have a short period of time to write a legendary album she can take on the road. Over the course of their time together, they not only create music that will take the country by storm, but confront the horrors of both their pasts, and learn to find a way to a better future.

Original, evocative, and historic, Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert is a landmark achievement that will burrow deep into our hearts (and ears).

Review Quotes

"Bob the Drag Queen adds another feather to his cap: The RuPaul's Drag Race winner/podcast host/stand-up comic is now an author, penning a fun and imaginative blend of history and science fiction. History comes to life, and past and present mix in fresh new ways."-- "The Washington Post"

"The first novel from TV host and RuPaul's Drag Race winner Bob the Drag Queen vibes with energy and humor but never wavers in its focus on the resilience and power of Black Americans, 'made out of something stronger than steel and diamonds combined, ' and the universal passion for liberation."-- "Booklist, starred review"

"Vivacious . . . The reverence for Harriet, 'America's first Black superhero, ' makes her feel alive on the page. It's a knockout."-- "Publishers Weekly, starred review"

"What if Harriet Tubman came back to life...and became a pop star? In Bob the Drag Queen's debut novel, the historic abolitionist does just that, forming a hip-hop band with four enslaved people whom she freed to create an album and live show, which tells her story in a new way. Bob's voice helps bridge those generation gaps, educating readers and imagining Tubman's future with the same humor and effortless shade displayed on The Traitors."-- "Bustle"

"Yes, it's true: that Bob the Drag Queen wrote a novel and it is about Harriet Tubman coming back to life and making a hip-hop album. You already know you're on board, as well you should be: the novel is funny and wild and sharp, about fame and race and creativity and America. Harriet's is a show not to be missed."-- "LitHub"

About the Author

Bob the Drag Queen is a television host, actor, activist, and the season eight winner of RuPaul's Drag Race. Find Bob at BobTheDragQueen.com, on TikTok and Instagram @BobTheDragQueen.