Naturally Tan: A Memoir - Hardcover

France, Tan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1250208661 ISBN 13: 9781250208668

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2019

Synopsis

A USA Today Hottest Book of the Summer for 2019!
A Best Nonfiction Book for 2019 in Woman's Day!
One of Hello Giggles's "Most Anticipated Books of 2019 to Add to Your Reading List"!

“Just when I thought I knew everything about Tan, he hits me with this. His story is so heartwarming, and wickedly funny.” ―Antoni Porowski

In this heartfelt, funny, and touching memoir, one of the stars of Netflix’s Emmy Award-winning smash-hit Queer Eye reveals how an Englishman raised in a traditionally religious home became a fashion icon―and the first openly gay, South Asian man on television―simply by being Naturally Tan.

In this heartfelt, funny, touching memoir, Tan France tells his origin story for the first time. With his trademark wit, humor, and radical compassion, Tan reveals what it was like to grow up gay in a traditional South Asian family, as one of the few people of color in South Yorkshire, England. He illuminates his winding journey of coming of age, finding his voice (and style!), and marrying the love of his life―a Mormon cowboy from Salt Lake City.

From one of the stars of Netflix’s runaway hit show Queer Eye, Naturally Tan is so much more than fashion dos and don’ts―though of course Tan can’t resist steering everyone away from bootcut jeans! Full of candid observations about U.S. and U.K. cultural differences, what he sees when you slide into his DMs, celebrity encounters, and the behind-the-scenes realities of “reality TV,” Naturally Tan gives us Tan’s unique perspective on the happiness to be found in being yourself.

In Tan's own words, “The book is meant to spread joy, personal acceptance, and most of all understanding. Each of us is living our own private journey, and the more we know about each other, the healthier and happier the world will be.”

About this title

Review

An Amazon Best Book of June 2019: Naturally Tan is two delightful books in one. First, it’s a memoir recalling how a South Asian boy from a conservative immigrant family grew up in South Yorkshire, navigating multiple issues: parents who pushed him to become a doctor or lawyer though he knew his passion was for fashion, the occasionally violent racism of his working class neighborhood, and being gay (a fact he kept from his parents until he was 34). While Naturally Tan will be catnip to the fans who know him from the show that made him famous, Netflix’s Queer Eye, readers who never watched an episode will also find this memoir captivating. Being both “gay and brown” exposed Tan to bigotry early on, and the breezy way he sidesteps, ignores, or eviscerates racists, bigots, and shallow people, pointing out that their behavior says much about them and nothing about him, is inspiring. And that’s the second book: one that not only says “it gets better” but illustrates what Tan did to make it get better. Filled with witty anecdotes, useful checklists (like the art of not being a b**** at work), Tan’s dos and don’ts of first dates, a note on the representation of people of color in media, advice on how to respond to nosy questions (“my marriage is of course your business, completely”), and how to be the version of gay that you want to be, this pairing of fashion with compassion has never been a better match. --Vannessa Cronin

About the Author

TAN FRANCE has been a successful fashion designer behind-the-scenes for over 15 years, and now steps into the spotlight as the star of Emmy-winning makeover hit, and Netflix re-boot, “Queer Eye”. Surrounded by an all new cast, France is the witty wardrobe wiz leading the charge in the fashion department and is ready to make America fabulous again one makeover at a time. This experience is so much more than just new clothes to the British born fashion advisor however, it’s about real-life issues, changes and acceptance on all sides.

The epitome of style and class, Tan is the creative mind behind successful brands including the popular ladies clothing lines Kingdom & State and Rachel Parcell, Inc. Prior to his personal success as a designer, he spent his summers working in his grandfather’s denim factory while he secretly enrolled in fashion college in preparation to start a new chapter as a fabulous design star.

Edition details

• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1250208661
• ISBN 13: 9781250208668
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 288