Love That Story: Observations from a Gorgeously Queer Life

by Jonathan Van Ness

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Love That Story is the humorous, candid memoir of Johnathan Van Ness. Reflecting on his own experiences, Van Ness addresses difficult topics in an eloquent and introspective manner. Fans of the Queer Eye star will want to pick up this latest book.

The Emmy-nominated host of Netflix’s Queer Eye follows up his New York Times-bestselling memoir, Over The Top, with this collection of thought-provoking essays on grief and healing, cannabis reform, LGBTQIA+ rights, imposter syndrome, personal style, the HIV safety net, and of, course, how to make your hairdresser love you.

In his New York Times-bestselling memoir Over the Top, Jonathan van Ness showed readers how the incredibly difficult moments from his life (surviving sexual abuse and addiction, being diagnosed with HIV) have existed alongside great joy and positivity (landing a breakout role on Netflix’s Queer Eye, becoming an amateur figure skater and professional standup comedian, doting on his five cats).

If Jonathan learned anything from the painful life experiences, it’s that in order to thrive, he needed to push past the shame and fear of being his true self, which meant getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. In this candid and curious essay collection, he takes a thoughtful, in-depth look at today’s hot-button issues, viewed through the lens of his personal experience. From the evolution of his signature style to an investigative report on the queer history of his hometown, Jonathan reflects on his life and how he has learned to embrace change—doing the work to challenge internalized beliefs, finding compassion and confidence, and learning more about what makes us all so messy and gorgeous.

Balancing the dark and the light, the serious and the madcap, these essays allow us to examine our individual assumptions, expand our horizons, and give ourselves permission to be the flawed and fabulous humans we are.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063082267
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	04/12/2022
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	19,912
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Jonathan Van Ness is a bestselling author, podcaster, comedian, and television personality. He is known for his work as the beauty expert on the Netflix series Queer Eye, for hosting the Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness podcast, and for the web series parody Gay of Thrones.

Table of Contents

Now, Where Were We? 11

Chapter 1 Processing Grief 17

Chapter 2 The (Continual) Expression of My Personal Style 37

Chapter 3 Quincy's Queer History 57

Chapter 4 Overcoming Body Issues and Learning to Love My Gorgeous Self 83

Chapter 5 The Devil's Lettuce 97

Chapter 6 A Love Letter to Hairdressing 117

Chapter 7 TERF Wars 137

Chapter 8 Impostor Syndrome 161

Chapter 9 Sorry, Karen 181

Chapter 10 The HIV Safety Net 201

Chapter 11 Fin … for Now 225

Acknowledgments 233

Notes 235

Editorial Reviews

"Stigma and ignorance: two words Van Ness succeeds at erasing if you're curious enough to dig in. You should be." — USA Today

"[Van Ness] is an engaging public figure, and his personality translates well on the page. His ebullient sense of humor and his passion for LGBTQ+ rights and social justice for an increasingly marginalized transgender population inform with spirited ease." — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher