CANDY DARLING Dreamer, Icon, Superstar

Narrator Justin Vivian Bond emphasizes the drama in the transformation and vivid life of Candy Darling, a transgender performer in New York City in the 1960s and 1970s. This biography recounts her traumatic youth, which included growing up in a dysfunctional family, an abusive father, and being bullied outside her home, as well. From there her journey takes her to her true gender and to superstar status. Bond also paints a picture of the era in which she lived, when homosexuality and cross-dressing were illegal and Greenwich Village was a center for avant-garde experimentation by Andy Warhol and others. The audiobook ends with Darling's early death from stomach cancer. Bond's narration smoothly blends years of Darling's journal entries, interviews, background material, and anecdotes. S.W. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2025]