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davidbythebay 's review for:
Unprotected: A Memoir
by Billy Porter
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
An amazing memoir of Billy Porter's life and work, and yet it is so much more.
Porter's prose switches from gagging the masses realness to intricate emotional expressions of what lies behind the curtain. In doing so, Porter allows us into his public and private lives throughout his life. From his early days in Pittsburgh, PA to NYC and LA, we take a whole tour of the last several decades of Porter's life. He never skips a moment to bring the societal issues and events that occur into his memoir. He tackles the AIDS crisis of the 80s and 90s directly, calling out his friends and loved ones who fell to the disease in the face of governmental inaction. Porter tells us how he reacted to 9-11, the COVID-19 pandemic, the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black men and women killed by police, and other major events. He calls out the injustices in the world and sets forth some great points and calls to action. He doesn't shy away from speaking his mind and telling us exactly what he thinks about certain things.
This is a brilliantly told story of his life from the highs and lows, the anxieties, the good and the bad. He is honest about his trauma - even when he can barely speak of it or describe it, he is honest about his inability to express himself in these situations. As with Colton Haynes' 2022 memoir (which I read earlier this year and loved), Porter likewise analyzes his life, accepting events as facts where he can divorce emotion, even if he is still working through them. Porter takes the extra step, however, in describing his visceral reactions to the AIDS crisis, describing in detail how his friends dying of AIDS looked and what he felt.
I got this from the library and did a hybrid physical copy and audiobook read of the book. The audiobook is AMAZING! Read by Porter himself, it is spiced with his singing, his mannerisms, and his stresses that only the spoken word can get across. It was great to hear him sing, making certain moments all the stronger - i.e., when he describes visiting a friend dying of AIDS and tells us of the song he gently sang his friend.
This is an incredible memoir that not only tells us of Porter's life but also is a fantastic primer of the events of the last 40 or so years. His struggles, his pains, his joys, and his love drip from each pain, drawn out with my tears. Brilliant and wholesome, engaging and delicate, this is a wonderful must-read!
And love always wins.
Porter's prose switches from gagging the masses realness to intricate emotional expressions of what lies behind the curtain. In doing so, Porter allows us into his public and private lives throughout his life. From his early days in Pittsburgh, PA to NYC and LA, we take a whole tour of the last several decades of Porter's life. He never skips a moment to bring the societal issues and events that occur into his memoir. He tackles the AIDS crisis of the 80s and 90s directly, calling out his friends and loved ones who fell to the disease in the face of governmental inaction. Porter tells us how he reacted to 9-11, the COVID-19 pandemic, the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black men and women killed by police, and other major events. He calls out the injustices in the world and sets forth some great points and calls to action. He doesn't shy away from speaking his mind and telling us exactly what he thinks about certain things.
This is a brilliantly told story of his life from the highs and lows, the anxieties, the good and the bad. He is honest about his trauma - even when he can barely speak of it or describe it, he is honest about his inability to express himself in these situations. As with Colton Haynes' 2022 memoir (which I read earlier this year and loved), Porter likewise analyzes his life, accepting events as facts where he can divorce emotion, even if he is still working through them. Porter takes the extra step, however, in describing his visceral reactions to the AIDS crisis, describing in detail how his friends dying of AIDS looked and what he felt.
I got this from the library and did a hybrid physical copy and audiobook read of the book. The audiobook is AMAZING! Read by Porter himself, it is spiced with his singing, his mannerisms, and his stresses that only the spoken word can get across. It was great to hear him sing, making certain moments all the stronger - i.e., when he describes visiting a friend dying of AIDS and tells us of the song he gently sang his friend.
This is an incredible memoir that not only tells us of Porter's life but also is a fantastic primer of the events of the last 40 or so years. His struggles, his pains, his joys, and his love drip from each pain, drawn out with my tears. Brilliant and wholesome, engaging and delicate, this is a wonderful must-read!
And love always wins.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Medical content, Grief