Trixie and Katya's Guide to Modern Womanhood

2020 book

Trixie and Katya's Guide to Modern Womanhood
First edition (publ. Plume Books)

Trixie and Katya's Guide to Modern Womanhood is a 2020 book by drag queens Trixie and Katya, published by Plume Books, an imprint of Penguin Group. It was published in the UK and Australia by Penguin's Ebury Publishing imprint. It is a parody of self-help and etiquette books for women. It includes both serious and satirical advice on housekeeping, fashion and relationships.^[1]

Background

Katya Zamolodchikova is the drag name of Brian McCook, a Boston drag queen, who competed on RuPaul's Drag Race season seven, alongside Brian Firkus, who performs professionally as Trixie Mattel. The pair are long time collaborators, and have worked together in podcasts, and their YouTube show for World of Wonder, UNHhhh. After being pitched the idea for the book by their agent, they were inspired by etiquette books that Trixie had read, and self-help books that Katya had tried during her struggle with drug addiction.^[2] The book aims to make fun of the "ridiculousness of human identity in the modern world", which is why they choose to write a self-help book.^[1]

Content

The book is dedicated to "All ambitious female scientists out there." Photography was done by Gabriel D Gastelum, Joel Benjamin and Albert Sanchez, and creative direction by Pedro Zalba.^[3] It includes full page spreads of the authors in drag, and chapters on homemaking (including money, social media, interior design and food), relationships, beauty (including shoes, hygiene, drugs, self-love, makeup and hair). It also includes transcribed conversations between Trixie and Katya.^[4]

Reception

The book reached #2 on the New York Times Bestseller List self-help category in July and remained on the list for two weeks.^[5]^[6] It debuted at #6 on Publishers Weekly's nonfiction hardcover bestsellers.^[7]

Bleeding Cool said it "makes a great read and an even greater present, for when you need to tell someone, "Mary, learn to take care of yourself, girl." in the most passive-aggressive way possible."^[4] The A.V. Club's Shannon Miller rated it highly, and said "there is no part of this breezy read that isn't thoroughly engaging."^[8]

Sequel

On April 8, 2022, Penguin announced that Trixie and Katya's second book in a similar vein to the first, Working Girls: Trixie & Katya's Guide to Professional Womanhood, would be released on October 25, 2022. The book will include "advice for people entering the modern workplace, including satirical tips for choosing a career path, navigating the 'Nine Circles of Retail Hell,' corporate culture, grappling with suspicions that your colleague 'doesn't really hope their emails finds you well,' and the inevitable sailing into one's retiree era." as well as quizzes and an aptitude test.^[9]^[10]

References

^ ^a ^b "Trixie and Katya's Guide to Surviving the Pandemic and Staying Home". Vanity Fair. 15 July 2020. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
^ "Drag Queens Katya And Trixie Challenge Societal Expectations In Their Guide To Modern Womanhood". www.wbur.org. 22 July 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-08-19. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
^ Mattel, Trixie; Zamolodchikova, Katya (2020). Trixie and Katya's Guide to Modern Womanhood. Plume Publishing. p. 1. ISBN 9781529105964.
^ ^a ^b Arnold, Eden (27 January 2021). "Trixie and Katya's Guide to Modern Womanhood Book Review: A Delight". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
^ "Trixie and Katya Guide Women All the Way to the NYT Best Seller List". Nerd Alert News. 23 July 2020. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
^ "Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous Books - Best Sellers - Books - Aug. 2, 2020 - The New York Times". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 25 June 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
^ "This Week's Bestsellers: July 27, 2020". PublishersWeekly.com. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
^ "What we're reading: Trixie And Katya's Guide To Modern Womanhood". The A.V. Club. 16 June 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-08-19. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
^ Nolfi, Joey (April 8, 2022). "From cover girls to cover letters, see Trixie Mattel and Katya's new Working Girls book jacket". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
^ "Working Girls by Trixie Mattel an Katya". Penguin Random House. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2022.