Details from Audible:
Karamo
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About this listen
An insightful, candid, and inspiring memoir from Karamo Brown – Queer Eye’s beloved culture expert – as he shares his story for the first time, exploring how the challenges in his own life have allowed him to forever transform the lives of those in need.
When Karamo Brown first auditioned for the casting directors of Netflix’s Queer Eye, he knew he wouldn’t win the role of culture expert by discussing art and theater. Instead, he decided to redefine what “culture” could – and should – mean for the show. He took a risk and declared, “I am culture.”
Karamo believes that culture is so much more than art museums and the ballet – it’s how people feel about themselves and others, how they relate to the world around them, and how their shared labels, burdens, and experiences affect their daily lives in ways both subtle and profound. Seen through this lens, Karamo is culture: His family is Jamaican and Cuban; he was raised in the South in predominantly white neighborhoods and attended an HBCU (historically black college/university); he was trained as a social worker and psychotherapist; he overcame personal issues of colorism, physical and emotional abuse, alcohol and drug addiction, and public infamy; he is a proud and dedicated gay single father of two boys, one biological and one adopted. It is by discussing deep subjects like these, he feels, that the makeovers on the show can attain their full, lasting meaning. Styling your hair and getting new clothes and furniture are important, but it’s imperative that you figure out why you haven’t done so in 20 years so you can truly change your life.
In this eye-opening and moving memoir, Karamo reflects on his lifelong education. It comprises every adversity he has overcome, as well as the lessons he has learned along the way. It is only by exploring our difficulties and having the hard conversations – with ourselves and one another – that we are able to adjust our mind-sets, heal emotionally, and move forward to live our best lives.
Karamo shows us the way.©2019 Karamo Brown (P)2019 Simon & Schuster
Initial Thoughts:
While I didn’t see all of it I was a fan of the original “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and I’ve seen every episode of the reboot “Queer Eye” on Netflix. I’ve also listened to a book by Jonathan Van Ness and “Queer Eye” by all five of then current Fab Five, so I’m certainly a fan of the show and the hosts. So when I saw this on Audible I decided to give it a listen.
Main Points:
This is not going to be the easiest review, don’t get me wrong this was an excellent book that I thoroughly enjoyed it’s just I had a hard time relating to all the terrible things that Karamo experienced. Racism, being picked on for being gay, picked on for this name, having a father who was an alcoholic and abusive to his wife and daughters (he never hit Karamo but certainly inflicted mental abuse), then becoming an addict himself, having all sorts of issues with his culture/race and his family not wanting him to pursue his dream of being a dancer, then being physically and emotionally abusive with his partners and finally attempting suicide before getting on the right path to being a social worker and psychotherapist and a later TV host before finally finding his home on “Queer Eye.” That was a lot of summarizing but the first four chapters are all about the dark periods in his life and it is chapter 5 where it gets bright and we see the amazing person Karamo is.
I thought he did a wonderful job with voice work, I always love it when an author reads his own work and Karama has a lovely voice. I love to hear behind the scenes info and he has a whole chapter devoted to “Queer Eye” which give you a lot of insight of how he had to struggle to become much more than the culture guy on the show. One of the really interesting parts was him talking about fatherhood, like lots of people (not me but I’m a different generation) he was still uncertain of his sexuality as a teenager and unknowingly got his female friend pregnant. I thought he dealt with the massive shock of being a dad exceptionally well and I thought it was wonderful that he adopted his son’s brother to keep them together as a family. The last chapter is his feeling on the world and while this book came out in 2019 it is just as relevant if not more so today, we need to find common ground with each other and stop fighting, just because you have different political views doesn’t mean you have to hate your neighbor. I also fully agree that it’s up to everyone to spread hope and positivity, the world is already a dark place and doing whatever you can to brighten it up is so important, just say something nice to at least one person every day I promise it will help you just as much as them.
Final Thoughts:
It is worth noting that Karamo deals with very mature topics like racism, drug addiction, suicide, violence and abuse, this book is certainly not for children and I would say ages 17+. He wisely avoids a graphic description of his suicide attempt and instead talks about how important it is to get help when you feel hopeless. I hope Karamo is on “Queer Eye” for a long time to come but I do also hope his dream comes true and he gets his own talk show, he would be wonderful! I also hope he writes more books, we need more people like him to spread joy and positivity, the world needs it so much. I highly recommend this book if the above topics are not a trigger for you. My only real issue is that I wish it was longer and provided more details but perhaps that will be in his second, a solid 8.5 out of 10 from me.