I Have Something To Tell You

I love a good memoir, and I would like a nice gay couple to adopt me, but I’m a bit too old for that. So instead, I read book like this new memoir/campaign story by Chasten Buttigieg, the husband of Pete Buttigieg. It’s cute, it’s interesting, it’s nothing life-changing, but I enjoyed it.

I had literally never heard of Pete Buttigieg before he was floated as a presidential candidate, and I quickly became kind of obsessed with him. I loved reading his memoir/campaign book, The Shortest Way Home, so I was excited to see him from an outsiders view but also learn about his husband, Chasten. Chasten talks a lot about how he became “mildly internet famous” but I never once saw that so…maybe I’m on the wrong parts of the internet. That wasn’t what drew me to this story–I was genuinely just interested in the Buttigieg’s as people and what the husband of the first openly gay presidential candidate was like.

From his upbringing as a 4-H loving Michigander to studying abroad in high school in Germany to struggling to come out and find happiness in his early 20s, this book could be about any millennial, honestly, in the first half. Chasten struggled with his sexuality, his politics, his confidence, his education, his finances, etc. And then…he meets “the guy” and things change, but it’s not a magic wand. I loved reading about their early dates. I enjoyed getting to “know” Chasten but I think his insights into the weird roles of campaign spouses–especially not wealthy ones–was really insightful.

Sure, this book wasn’t revolutionary. It didn’t blow my mind or really change me, but it was interesting, and I hope to see more of the Buttigieg’s in the future.