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¡Hola Papi!: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons by John Paul Brammer
brookebuonauro's review against another edition
4.0
I adore ¡Hola Papi!. John Paul Brammer is a gift
jess_mango's review against another edition
4.0
Hola Papi is a collection of essays spurred on by advice column questions and responses. John Paul Brammer grew up in small town Oklahoma as a mixed race gay kid. He experienced his share of bullying, which caused him to change middle schools. Later he found himself working as the writer of the Hola Papi advice column for a Grindr-owned online publication. There he answers questions from gay men looking for advice about coming out or their new relationships, and more. All of this is done with a pinch of humor and self-deprecation. Brammer recounts his own awkward encounters, self-discovery, love found and lost.
I listened to the audiobook, which Brammer narrated himself and he came across as warm and approachable. I appreciated his insight into his life as a less than 100% confident gay man and his desire to help the younger generation of gay men learn from his experience.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!
I listened to the audiobook, which Brammer narrated himself and he came across as warm and approachable. I appreciated his insight into his life as a less than 100% confident gay man and his desire to help the younger generation of gay men learn from his experience.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!
graveyardpansy's review against another edition
4.0
memoir-in-essays are generally appealing to me and this one was pretty good! i do think JPB has some genuinely thoughtful and well-meaning advice to give through these chapters. there were some bits i was pleasantly surprised by.
i have two main critiques, one surface-level and one more significant. because he writes an advice column, each chapter is formatted as such, beginning with a (maybe faux or heavily clipped?) letter from a reader. through the whole rest of the chapter, JPB will randomly insert the letter’s sign-off into a sentence or seven. and every time, it threw me off, bc the tone of each essay is really more memoir than advice column to me. it was just a mildly irritating writing quirk that i’m sure some people enjoy but was just not for me. regardless that alone wouldn’t put this at a 4-star.
what did is that pretty often, JPB gives advice or comes to some grand conclusion that is /SO CLOSE/ to being something radical or truly politically meaningful, and then it just doesn’t happen. at one point he very clearly describes the invisible knapsack conception of white privilege, but then just moves on and writes about smth else. it’s definitely possible that he came up with the same ideas himself, but it’s an idea that dates back to 1980s antiracism so to read it as if it’s novel was odd. there were a few other similar instances that all just made me think “no!! u were so close to something really good!!!!”
I know i’m a very critical reader but cmon, just a /little/ more radical, please?
i have two main critiques, one surface-level and one more significant. because he writes an advice column, each chapter is formatted as such, beginning with a (maybe faux or heavily clipped?) letter from a reader. through the whole rest of the chapter, JPB will randomly insert the letter’s sign-off into a sentence or seven. and every time, it threw me off, bc the tone of each essay is really more memoir than advice column to me. it was just a mildly irritating writing quirk that i’m sure some people enjoy but was just not for me. regardless that alone wouldn’t put this at a 4-star.
what did is that pretty often, JPB gives advice or comes to some grand conclusion that is /SO CLOSE/ to being something radical or truly politically meaningful, and then it just doesn’t happen. at one point he very clearly describes the invisible knapsack conception of white privilege, but then just moves on and writes about smth else. it’s definitely possible that he came up with the same ideas himself, but it’s an idea that dates back to 1980s antiracism so to read it as if it’s novel was odd. there were a few other similar instances that all just made me think “no!! u were so close to something really good!!!!”
I know i’m a very critical reader but cmon, just a /little/ more radical, please?
book_concierge's review against another edition
3.0
Audiobook read by the author
Subtitle: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons
Brammer studied journalism and creative writing and landed a job writing an advice column for INTO, which was published by Grindr, the popular gay hook-up app. He wasn’t sure he was doing “the gay thing” right, or that he had any business giving advice, but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained. His column, ¡Hola Papi!, took off like wildfire.
This collection of essays serves as a memoir and self-help guide to pressing questions about growing up, surviving break ups, finding love, and all the issues young people – both gay and straight – have to navigate in the process of becoming adults. He recounts his experiences in a small Oklahoma town, his horrible middle-school years, when he was bullied to the point where he considered suicide, his confusing teenage years in the closet, his awakening in college, and his eventual move to New York.
The beginning of each chapter poses a question asking for advice. There are some chapters where I wondered where his story was headed and if he’d ever connect to the question being asked. But Brammer’s honesty and empathy propelled me forward.
Brammer narrates the audiobook himself. He does a fine job, it IS his own story after all, and I can’t imagine anyone doing a better job of narrating it. I did read about half the book in text format, however.
Subtitle: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons
Brammer studied journalism and creative writing and landed a job writing an advice column for INTO, which was published by Grindr, the popular gay hook-up app. He wasn’t sure he was doing “the gay thing” right, or that he had any business giving advice, but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained. His column, ¡Hola Papi!, took off like wildfire.
This collection of essays serves as a memoir and self-help guide to pressing questions about growing up, surviving break ups, finding love, and all the issues young people – both gay and straight – have to navigate in the process of becoming adults. He recounts his experiences in a small Oklahoma town, his horrible middle-school years, when he was bullied to the point where he considered suicide, his confusing teenage years in the closet, his awakening in college, and his eventual move to New York.
The beginning of each chapter poses a question asking for advice. There are some chapters where I wondered where his story was headed and if he’d ever connect to the question being asked. But Brammer’s honesty and empathy propelled me forward.
Brammer narrates the audiobook himself. He does a fine job, it IS his own story after all, and I can’t imagine anyone doing a better job of narrating it. I did read about half the book in text format, however.
kaelaceleste's review against another edition
5.0
A fun quick read! I've followed JP on twitter for a while so I was already familiar with his style and humor. This was a really fun mix of stories and actual life advice and just a very pleasant read!
nopnutspls's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
juanitamfm's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I liked the different stories and the format of answering questions in an advice column. He was really funny and even when he was telling sad stories he kept it positive and as a learning about himself lesson and how he didn’t let the challenges beat him.
barizley's review against another edition
3.0
Was expecting this to be funny. It is the gif of Jamie Lee Curtis repeating “trauma,” in book form.