Devour Me, Again
The Poems of Bambi Lake
Will be published approx. on 3. September 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
128 pages
978-1-64362-306-1 (ISBN)
Description
A landmark collection of poems by Bambi Lake, the beloved (and bad-mouthed) icon of San Francisco's counterculture.
Bambi Lake was a trans chanteuse performer, provocateur, and countercultural darling of the '70s, and subsequent decades. "The Glamorous Life follows me around," she wrote, and sang about in her ballad "The Golden Age of Hustlers" (later popularized by Justin Vivian Bond). Her life in San Francisco-including being on the fringes of the Cockettes, and a member of the adjacent Angels of Light-was "sort of legendary," sort of "sweet, sticky, nasty," and always precarious, lived in spite of addiction, homelessness, and the horrors that came from chasing and surviving her own desires.
Here are her poems, long out of print, that wear "burgundy velvet jezebel bras" to seduce "fatally hetero" men, detailing the cabaret of desire amidst social, cultural, and political change. "I am Beauty," she writes, "and the world dissolves."
The collection includes a series of interviews by August Bernadicou, and a foreword by Brontez Purnell.
Bambi Lake was a trans chanteuse performer, provocateur, and countercultural darling of the '70s, and subsequent decades. "The Glamorous Life follows me around," she wrote, and sang about in her ballad "The Golden Age of Hustlers" (later popularized by Justin Vivian Bond). Her life in San Francisco-including being on the fringes of the Cockettes, and a member of the adjacent Angels of Light-was "sort of legendary," sort of "sweet, sticky, nasty," and always precarious, lived in spite of addiction, homelessness, and the horrors that came from chasing and surviving her own desires.
Here are her poems, long out of print, that wear "burgundy velvet jezebel bras" to seduce "fatally hetero" men, detailing the cabaret of desire amidst social, cultural, and political change. "I am Beauty," she writes, "and the world dissolves."
The collection includes a series of interviews by August Bernadicou, and a foreword by Brontez Purnell.
Reviews / Votes
"There's something upbeat and vulnerable in Bambi's memoir in verse, beckoning us with a wink to hear her heartache, wit, loss, and triumph."-Brontez Purnell
"Bambi Lake loved beauty. Bambi Lake wanted to be famous. Gradually moving the needle, Bambi Lake's haunted words are turning the trick, growing her fame, shooting like stars. Even in death, still, she's making an entrance."
-Justin Vivian Bond
"A moving firsthand account of not just the author's own life but the city of San Francisco as it changed beyond recognition. It's like a little bit Balzac's Comedie Humaine and a whole lot of "the most interesting woman at the bar has decided to tell you about her life." Which, thank god. Obviously. You hope she never stops."
-Harron Walker
"It's good to see that Bambi has put out books about her life because it has been one-of-a-kind and an inspiration for anyone who wants to stand up for themselves. I admire her guts and her sense of humor. Sometimes you might think that nothing gets to her but that's not true-something gets to all of us. It's how you ride it out that tells the world where you're at. I believe she carries herself rather well. Long may she wave."
-Henry Rollins
"Bambi is a one of a kind story of talent, free spirit, and determined survival. And imagination! Half the stuff in her Jello poem is sure news to me. But stretching things never hurt Hunter Thompson . . ."
-Jello Biafra
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
photos of Bambi Lake
Dimensions
Height: 209 mm
Width: 133 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-64362-306-1 (9781643623061)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Bambi Lake (1950-2020) was an author and chanteuse performer based in San Francisco, known for work that spoke to her experience as a transgender woman. She made her first appearance with The Cockettes, the avant-garde theater group, in the early 1970s, and has since been the subject of the documentary Sticks & Stones (2014) and a ballad revival, "The Golden Age of Hustlers," written by Lake and later recorded by Justin Vivian Bond. She authored a memoir with Alvin Orloff, The Unsinkable Bambi Lake (1996).