I've been waiting to read this one for a while! My "To Read" bookshelf is always overflowing. This is something that I love and hate at the same time. The list of books I would love to read is always growing, which is great, but then sometimes I have to wait a while to get to a book I've been looking forward to due to other distractions. I am part of a book club with three other Social Studies teachers. Every two weeks or so we meet over zoom to chat about the book we are currently reading. Usually we read half of a book then meet. It is a lot of fun and I love all of the new books I am exposed to as a result, however it does pull my focus from other books for a while.
Anyway, Naturally Tan was worth the wait. I love Reality TV, it is definitely my guilty pleasure. I often explain my love of reality tv as a result of my love of Anthropology (side note: right now my partner is currently complaining about this stupidity of an anthropology degree to his friends over a video game, who knows why he has such a vendetta against anthropology, luckily I love him very much anyway). I love learning about different people and the way they see the world. Sure reality tv is not always very real and the drama sometimes gets in the way (or adds to the story depending how you look at it), but I really do see it as an opportunity for me to learn about different people. Queer Eye is a perfect example of this. I have a very limited number of friends from the LGBTQ+ community. In my first year of university I was taking theatre classes and suddenly met a few of my first close-ish (and out) gay friends. Since then I have made a few other gay friends and lost a few as tends to happen over time with any group of friends. I still do not feel that I have a very strong understanding of this community and thus, Queer Eye gives me plenty of opportunities to learn about a group people from a community I am not a part of and probably will always hover slightly near by but not ever be fully immersed in. Aside from that, Queer Eye gives me an opportunity to learn grooming (love my green stick makeup - thanks JVN), cooking (also I just love everything about Antoni), design, fashion and other tips! And my partner likes it too, so we don't spend 7 years figuring out what to watch on netflix whenever there are new Queer Eye episodes to binge.
I have previously read and loved both: Over the Top by Jonathan Van Ness, and Karamo by Karamo Brown (Amazon links to both books below) so I was ready to learn more about another one of my favourite members of the fab 5. Naturally Tan is well written, funny and interesting. The first half of the book is about his life before Queer Eye and he shares what life was like growing up in the South Asian community, while also living in a small town in England. Racism and Homophobia are a huge part of Tan's early experiences and have shaped who he is as a person today, in both positive and negative ways. Readers will also learn about his role in the fashion industry prior to being cast as the Fashion Expert on the show.
As any fan wishes for and expects from a tell all book written by one of their favourite celebrities, this book also shares a bit of a behind the scenes look at the casting, day-to-day production and media coverage related to Queer Eye. It also gives a window into the lives of the other Fab 5 members and Tan's relationship with them. It is refreshing to hear that for the most part the producers and production of Queer Eye is not dramatic and that the strong friendships we see on screen are not forced or fake.
Finally, Tan shares many important fashion and life lessons with his readers which almost feel like a relaxed conversation with a very down to earth guy. From inherent or underlying racism, to relationship advice to life as a celebrity, Tan is a wonderful role model and representative of the communities to which he belongs.
I did find the last few chapters a little less interesting as they talked more about the media coverage, award ceremonies and other celebrity-type activities, but it wasn't bad, just not my favourite section of the book. That being said, if you want to know all about life in the during/post-Queer Eye fame, this section is very important for you as a reader. This is definitely a must read for all Queer Eye fans and I'm glad I finally got to add it to my "Recently Read" page!
