Karamo

I discovered Queer Eye, and ultimately fell in love with it, in the strangest way. I have a guy I occasionally see, let’s call him G, who is very cultured. He works in culture, one might say, and at this point, has introduced me to a lot of things I now love. One night, after a couple glasses of wine, he said “what, you’ve never seen Queer Eye?” and turned it on. I was hooked. Holy crap, I was hooked. We only watched one or two episodes that night, but I ended up binge-watching the other seasons over Christmas and wow, no regrets. So when I found out that some of the guys had books coming out this year, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on them. The first of the year was Karamo, the culture expert. His book, self-titled Karamo (bold), came out in early March, and I gladly threw an audible credit at it when I found out he narrated it himself.

Compared to Tan’s book, which I also read, Karamo’s chapters are a bit longer, but they are way better organized. Each chapter covers a major theme: growing up, his religion, his relationship, his children, his drug addiction, etc. You ultimately get the whole picture by the end, but he doesn’t try to throw everything at you at once, which I appreciated. The book is also very well written and Karamo’s attention to detail comes out beautifully. He opens up a lot in this book–about losing his virginity to a woman, about his drug addiction and his overall addictive personality, about his struggles with mental health, etc. This is a really candid book, but it’s an amazing reflection of Karamo’s life and offers great insight into someone we are all amazed with.

I can’t wait to finish watching season 3 of Queer Eye and dive into Jonathan’s book when it comes out in September. Jonathan is probably the guy I vibe with the least naturally on the show, so I’m hoping that knowing more about his life will help me connect!