Candy Darling

“Brought me to tears … One of the most amazing biographies I’ve ever read.” –Bill Goldstein, NBC New York

“A rich portrait of a glittering, communal, and bygone NYC … [and] of the glamorous queer icon.” –Arimeta Diop, Vanity Fair

“Monumental… Candy Darling is the first full-length biography of the trans star, and I can’t imagine a better or more honest writer for the task.”–Hilton Als, The New Yorker

“Compassionate and meticulous, reconstructing its brittle, gleaming subject as one might a broken Meissen figurine … Heroic.”–Alexandra Jacobs, The New York Times

”[An] excellent biography … [on] the remarkably short life of the dizzyingly influential trans woman and Warhol superstar.” –Kaitlyn Greenidge, Harper’s Bazaar

“The most compelling and complete portrait of the late Warhol Superstar and LGBTQ+ pioneer to date.”–Jordan Runtagh, People

“The definitive record of [Candy Darling’s] life, shading in the vulnerable, gritty, and deeply soulful individual behind the fabulous façade … An essential read for anyone interested in queer culture and New York history … Such a gift.”–Mel Ottenberg, Interview magazine

“Enveloping … [A] touching, picaresque story told by Carr … not with a whip but with a delicate eyeliner.”–James Wolcott, Air Mail

“Compassionate and richly detailed … Deftly, without a trace of sanctimony, Carr … recounts Candy’s life in a way that most honors and respects who she was.”–Melissa Anderson, Bookforum

”[A] poignant biography … A fascinating–if tragic–portrait of one of Warhol’s most enigmatic superstars.”–W magazine

“Candy Darling cannot raise the dead, at least not literally. But [Carr] restores humanity and nuance to a woman who we know as only an image.”―Annie Howard, The Baffler

“Finally, trans icon and Warhol muse Candy Darling gets the full treatment she deserves in this well-researched and richly told biography … [Carr] illuminates Darling’s life in all its kaleidoscopic complexity.”–Karla J. Strand, Ms.

“The biography [Candy Darling] deserves … A rich and nuanced portrait of what it took to fly in the face of that society, and to do so with great style and flourish.”–Alexis Clements, Hyperallergic

“Juicy detail and stunning prose.”–Grace Byron, Document

”[A] dynamic biography … [Candy Darling’s] inspirational life and work resonate throughout this fascinating and bittersweet tribute.”–Jim Piechota, The Bay Area Reporter

“A heartbreaking and beautiful book, and an important resurrection of an important figure in trans and queer history.”–Bill Goldstein, NBC’s Weekend Today in New York

“I’m grateful for Carr’s tireless work in documenting the life of Andy Warhol’s most luminous trans superstar.”–McKenzie Wark, e-flux

”[An] incandescent portrait … Carr resurrects a trans icon whose life, artistry, and struggle speak directly to our moment.”–Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

”[Carr] moves past the mythologizing that surrounded the muse and offers a complete, strict chronology of Darling’s life. The result is a service to anyone who wishes to understand Darling.”–Olivia Oldham, Provincetown Independent

”[A] sensitively crafted book.”–Tony Bravo, San Francisco Chronicle

“For a long time, Candy Darling has been a fascinating footnote to other people’s stories … Now, thanks to this biography from the remarkable Cynthia Carr … Darling gets her turn.”–Town & Country

“An unparalleled close-up of a pop culture icon.”–Publishers Weekly

“Sensitive and complex … A fascinating portrait of a trendsetter.”–June Sawyers, Booklist

“A richly detailed and thoughtful portrait of Candy Darling, an innovator during an era that, although on the cusp of change, had not yet evolved far enough beyond the limited boundaries of conformity.”–Carol J. Binkowski, Library Journal

“Carr recounts a glittery life cut short and creates a fascinating portrait of an era.”–Robert DiGiacomo, Next Avenue

“A thoroughly immersive read.”–Tobias Carroll, InsideHook

“What an inspiring book! The web of detail assembled by culture sleuth Cynthia Carr is quickened by the fact of Candy’s tireless beauty, charm, and charisma–and oh so much pain. Complexly wrenching, startling, entirely fresh and alive, Candy Darling delivers an altogether frank and shimmering portrait of a self-made American female deity, more than a bit of a prophet, constructed from her own and everyone else’s desiring dream. Omigod, what a trip!”–Eileen Myles, author of a “Working Life”

“I first heard her name in a Lou Reed song; I first saw her face in a Peter Hujar photograph, looking glamorous, dying; I first heard her voice in an Andy Warhol film. And now, how wonderful to be taken, with care and delight and plenty of spectacle, behind the myth for a peek at the beating heart of Candy Darling. Cynthia Carr has written an absorbing account of an unforgettable woman in a fascinating time, a lonely icon who tried to find a place for herself in a world that couldn’t hold her.”–Justin Torres, author of Blackouts

“Candy Darling willed herself to be beautiful, and she succeeded: she was uniquely, spectrally beautiful. But the world made her pay for it. Cynthia Carr’s minute reconstruction of her life is brilliant and profoundly sad. As if Candy’s ghost were dictating the terms, it keeps her an enigma, a consummate life actress who never dressed down.”–Lucy Sante, author of I Heard Her Call My Name

“Full of fresh facts and interviews as well as glittering gossip, Cynthia Carr’s Candy Darling allows us to see–truly, for the first time–this celluloid wisp of a Warhol superstar in all her humanity. Carr is a trustworthy, sensitive guide to the nuances of Candy’s experience as she emerges as a historical trans pioneer.”–Brad Gooch, author of Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring

“I love, love, love this deliciously rich telling of Candy’s life, and of downtown New York in the ‘60s and ‘70s–all the haunts, the denizens, the stars. It’s clear Cynthia Carr fell in love with Candy Darling. Now, at long last, so shall we all.”–Kate Bornstein, author of Gender Outlaw

Cynthia Carr is the author of Fire in the Belly: The Life and Times of David Wojnarowicz, winner of a Lambda Literary Award and a finalist for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize. Her previous books are Our Town: A Heartland Lynching, a Haunted Town, and the Hidden History of White America and On Edge: Performance at the End of the Twentieth Century.

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