Queer Eye

Image credit: Amazon

At a time popularised by making promises to create a better you, could there be a better way to ring in the New Year than reading a book that helps you do just that? Last year the Fab Five brought out a non-fiction collaboration in which they provide tips and advice to help you get the Queer Eye treatment and head out into the world being the best you that you can be.

Sounds a bit cheesy, like some awful motivational speech right? But honestly, the book is pretty good…

On Netflix’ Queer Eye, Bobby, Antoni, Karamo, Tan, and Jonathan transform their heroes from eh to wow and through home décor, fashion, grooming, food, and culture, teach them how to become the best version of themselves; look great, and feel comfortable and confident. The aim of the show is to not just do a makeover, but to teach the heroes (and the viewers) how they can realise and maintain their potential. The book, more or less, does the same thing with various chapters devoted to tips for improving your grooming routine, wardrobe, living space, culinary game, and social life.

Beginning with an introduction by show creators David Collins, Michael Williams, and Rob Eric, Queer Eye is a fusion of genres, starting with an autobiographical segment in which we learn more about our authors. Being a fan of the show and its presenters, I was completely rapt in the first five chapters because, of course as a fan of anything, I love learning more about the things, characters, and people I love. A book can seriously lose something if you’ve got no emotional connection with the characters so this one simply glides out of the gate cleanly on that front.

We then move on to the chapters devoted to self care and improvement, coloured by tips and advice to help you get more out of your wardrobe, home, grooming routine, diet, and way in the social sphere. What’s nice about this book is that the prose is not too informative or dry; being written from each of the Fab Five, the reading experience is just like hearing them on the show, only a little more intimate as they’re talking to you. Fans’ imaginations might take over a little bit and paint images in their heads of having these conversations with the guys in the room –I know I did, I imagined Tan fawning over my Kitten D’Amour collection while Jonathan helped me shape a skin-care regime around my dermatitis, and I showed Antoni my chicken tagine with blue cheese couscous. 

Yeah, I’m a bit of a Fab Five fangirl, and I love it!

Image credit: Metro Weekly

Finally we move on to how all the elements of the previous chapters can be put together to create a fantastic dinner party; the climactic third act so to speak. We’ve got an interesting selection of recipes (some of which I’m totally going to try), suggestions for music, and everything else you need to have a great night with friends and loved ones. The final chapters are a perfect endnote, as they provide some narrative payoff and leave the reader armed with an encouraging message of “we’ve shown you how, now go be the best that you can be and love your life”. Again, it’s cheesy, but for anyone who loves the show (and therefore has probably already read the book), it leaves you with that warm and inspired feeling that starts in your tummy and then spreads through your whole body.

I’m not going to lie, I kinda loved this book!

Queer Eye is a non-fiction collaboration written by Antoni Porowski, Tan France, Karamo Brown, Bobby Berk, and Jonathan Van Ness and published by Headline Publishing Group in 2018.