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

(Paperback)

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A heart-breaking and hilarious memoir about the authors fight to be true to themself

WINNER OF THE POLARI FIRST BOOK PRIZE 2020

WINNER OF A SOMERSET MAUGHAM AWARD
Amrou knew they were gay when, aged ten, they first laid eyes on Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone. It was love at first sight.

Amrous parents werent so happy

From that moment on, Amrou began searching in all the wrong places for ways to make their divided self whole again.

Life as a Unicorn is a hilarious yet devastating story of a search for belonging, following the painful and surprising process of transforming from a god-fearing Muslim boy to a queer drag queen, strutting the stage in seven-inch heels and saying the things nobody else dares to .

Reviews

Astonishingly brave and engaging Joanna Lumley

'Amazing .. it provides so much nuance to the multiverse of identity Gay Times

This book is as rare, fabulous and beautiful as the creature it is named for. A masterpiece of psychology, a major study of Islam and a definitive study of drag, it made me cry, it made me rage and it made me hoot. Full of anger, insight and philosophy, along with some cracking great gags, this is a magnificent and essential document of the twenty-first century. It moved my heart and soul Russell T Davies

A heartbreaking, healing book. it will make you better' Simon Amstell

Amrous book is slightly magical, I think. They are a survivor, a storyteller and yes, a unicorn Juno Dawson

Amrou's story is at times painful, at times hilarious, but always completely resonant. If you've ever felt like an outsider, or caught among several identities, this book is a light in the dark and a soothing balm on the pain of loneliness and alienation Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani

This is a masterpiece, an incredible emotional voyage, moving, funny, provocative, educational, a book you must read whatever your ethnicity or your sexual or gender identity. Beautifully written by an author whose voice must be heard Owen Jones

Amrou writes with a confidence and lightness of touch, meaning you will laugh and you will cry and you will see real tender moments in a life fully lived. An incredibly adept writer and performer, Amrou brings to readers an important story unlike anything else you will read for a long, long time, and yet so incredibly universal. Nikesh Shukla, author of Coconut Unlimited and editor of The Good Immigrant

Author Bio

Amrou Al-Kadhi is the founder of drag troupe Denim and has several TV shows currently in development. Amrou has written an episode for Kumail Nanjiani & Emily V. Gordons upcoming series for Apple (US), Little America, as well as for BBC Americas hotly anticipated series, The Watch. Amrou has written and directed four short films and has features in development with Film4, the BFI and BBC films. Their journalism has appeared in the Guardian, the Independent, Gay Times, Attitude, CNN and Little White Lies, among other publications. Unicorn is Amrous first book.