The one you want to marry (and other identities I've had) A memoir

Comedian and TV writer Santos bares it all--the good, the bad, and the outrageously, obliviously gay--in this laugh-out-loud debut about coming out and feeling secure "in an insecure world." An Army brat raised by a perpetually uprooted Filipino-Spanish family, Santos describes the difficult process of discovering her true self, first as a budding musical theater star in high school and later as an Alabama pageant queen ("My drug? Victory bouquets"), a sorority sister earning her "MRS degree," and eventually--after a rocky road to admitting her sexuality to herself and "crossing the threshold into certified gaydom"--a too-accurate replica of the adulterous Shane from The L Word. Though some of her humor and colloquialisms ("as per ushe") don't translate smoothly from stage to page, her breezy tone feels intimate and makes the more serious and somber moments--such as her first comprehension of race (and the term "ethnically ambiguous"), her struggles with mental health, and rueful admissions of having mistreated former girlfriends--hit all the harder. LGBTQ millennials are sure to find a kindred spirit, warts and all, in these clever pages. Agent: Jack Greenbaum, the Arlook Group. (Oct.)