March 1, 2023
Gay Vietnamese American Adams writes affectingly of growing up in a highly dysfunctional family. Consider: His Vietnamese mother was bipolar. His sister, Suzanne, was a harridan manqu�; his brother, Bobby Lee, a psychopath on training wheels. Like the wallpaper, his white father was, well, just there. And his older half-brother John was a quadriplegic with the mental capacity of a three-year-old. But it is John whom William calls "my first and only friend." Unashamedly gay at school, Adams wins the annual cross-dressing pageant and also succeeds academically, receiving a scholarship to Harvard, where, in full drag, he wins the Miss Harvard pageant. His academic career behind him, he is introduced to Eurovision, which he calls "the Olympics of Song." Fascinated, he starts a blog about it and comes to be regarded as "the world's most influential Eurovision watcher." He writes amusingly of the annual competition, which he now calls "not a music show but some form of blood sport." Extremely well written and always interesting, Adams' memoir ends with a touching affirmation of his love for John.
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April 15, 2023
A biracial, queer American journalist chronicles his life from a tough Southern upbringing to a celebrated London-based blogger. Vietnamese American BBC journalist Adams begins with his unconventional youth in rural Georgia as an effeminate boy saddled with a homophobic, pious family. Frighteningly embarrassed by his "slight lisp and high-pitched voice," the author vividly describes his boyhood angst, trying "to hold my wrists straight, afraid of what the persistent bend and flop might signal." At the same time, he fantasized about Burt Reynolds and considered Barbara Eden his muse. Adams also cared for his quadriplegic brother, monitored his bipolar Vietnamese mother, and voraciously studied encyclopedias. Excelling in school, the author received a scholarship to Harvard, which catapulted him away from the claustrophobic dysfunction to the big city, and he began thriving as a gay man searching for true love and dreaming of a life in Europe. After graduate school and an array of jobs in journalism, Adams fell in love with and married a dashing Brit named Ben, who introduced him to the international Eurovision song contest, whose founders sought "to create a space for countries to compete in peace through song, a musical World Cup." Adams is an outspoken and humorous narrator. He is generous with personal details, and he amply shows how the glitzy allure of performance and competitive rivalry fuel his passion for the Eurovision contest. Happily, the author seems more at ease with himself and his present popularity, as the issues of belonging and identity that haunted him are, despite being formative, now bittersweet memories. Fans have come to know and love Adams for his informative, dishy Eurovision commentary on everything from vocal tone to sartorial missteps; with this book, he is certain to increase his fan base. A revealing memoir about surviving childhood trauma to embrace the prismatic rainbow of chosen family.
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