Short, quick, sad and uplifting little work by John Preston, this particular volume includes light editing and rough draft for sequel work that was unfinished at his death but published by his team anyway. It covers the life of Franny, a drag queen, from 1950 thru the early 1990s. Early times were filled with the pain and loneliness of being different when it certainly was completely socially unacceptable to be so, yet there was an inner spirit and strength that fostered an ability to love himself for who he was, and to never let others interfere with that. He was not beautiful, he was not good at drag himself, but was talented in helping others who performed. He built his own 'family' of like souls and became a tireless advocate for not giving in and it was ok to be whoever you were. Experiencing some very painful personal losses drove him to become a teacher and parent for all of the lost souls struggling with their identity in an often unforgiving world. Told thru mini interviews with other characters, Her story is shared thru short vignettes, most after She became a full-time resident of Provincetown, MA. She was a fixture, a highly regarded personality that changed many, many lives, right through to the end of the book where Her home was where many AIDS patients came to die in a clean loving environment. So, the lost souls and anguish on the parts of so many is what makes this story sad....but.....the defiant spirit that battled the anguish with love, not hate is the uplifting part. She was often angry, but never hateful.....it was all about love and respect. It seems rather poignant today where hate seems to be creeping into way too much of our world. Let's take Franny to heart and passionately love who we are and what we believe, but not in a way that projects hate to those who may see things differently. I think it is a noble endeavor..... ( )