How Y'all Doing?

June 1, 2021
The actor and surprise Instagram phenomenon dishes on his career, his past, and his foibles. Before the pandemic, Jordan was best known as a diminutive scene-stealer with supporting roles in Will and Grace, Boston Public, The Help, and American Horror Story. But as he relates early in this casual, good-natured memoir, his flirty and funny gay-uncle personality also made him a perfect fit for Instagram, which rewards colorful personalities who are quick with a zinger; he went from zero to 5.5 million followers in less than a year. Virality hasn't gone to his head, though, and the prevailing mood here is one of humility and self-deprecation. He interweaves run-ins with the likes of Lady Gaga, Carrie Fisher, and Dolly Parton with recollections of his childhood in east Tennessee (where he fumbled to understand his sexuality), his early professional stumbles, and past addictions. Most of his stories are of the breezy, funny-incident variety--you can picture him relating them on a talk-show couch (or an Instagram video)--and his descriptions of other actors are unstintingly polite to the point of clich�. (Vicki Lawrence is "wonderfully loving, exceptionally talented"; Gaga was "beautifully brought up.") But it's not all fluff. In a chapter about Truman Capote, Jordan recalls how the author's gay persona, after terrifying him at first, appealed to him and led to an ultimately disastrous effort to portray him onstage. A homophobic incident at his local Starbucks prompted him to recall his volunteer work with AIDS patients during the crisis. In the closing chapter, the author nicely balances a sweet and sour tone, venting his heartbreak at the Orlando Pulse shooting while relating his inexpert attempt to toss a first pitch at a baseball game shortly after. A lightweight but inviting clutch of remembrances from an outsize personality.

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April 1, 2021
In an effort to combat quarantine-related boredom, actor Jordan took to Instagram to relay stories of his misbegotten youth, always beginning with ""Well, shit. How y'all doing?"" That one line perfectly encapsulates Jordan's style--folksy, charming, and a little profane. His five-and-a-half million Instagram followers agree, though it was a long road to becoming an overnight sensation. In this collection of sharp recollections, Jordan details his life growing up as a church-going boy outside of Chattanooga to misadventures in drag to moving to Los Angeles in the midst of the AIDS crisis. He is, in every sense, fierce, a hilarious storyteller who makes the mundane seem magical (see ""The Time Debbie Reynolds Called My Mother"") and a staunch advocate for the LGBTQ community (see ""Not in My House""). Especially interesting is the entry on Truman Capote, how Jordan was alarmed when he saw him on Johnny Carson, and how, despite their physical similarities, he never could capture the role. Plus, there's plenty of celebrity gossip. This breezy collection will appeal to readers of pop culture, celebrity memoirs, and Southern storytelling.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.