Memoirs of a Gay Shah: My Story of Family, Fame, and Becoming a King

Shahs of Sunset star Farahan traces his arc from Iranian émigré to bold public figure in his glittering debut memoir. After moving from Iran to Beverly Hills in the late 1970s, Farahan was isolated within a small Persian community and forced to confront suspicions from his American neighbors that intensified after the Ayatollah’s rise in Iran. Meanwhile, he watched his homeland “turn into a place of terror and oppression” to which he and his family could not return. Under those bleak circumstances, his mother’s exuberant devotion to Farahan and his father’s steady work ethic carved out a safe harbor for him. In college, he came out as gay, embarking on a series of romantic misadventures before settling into a stable long-term partnership. In 2012, Farahan joined the freshman cast of Bravo’s Shahs of Sunset, hoping to “reframe the entire concept of what it meant to be from the Middle East for Americans.” Flamboyant, disarming, and frequently funny, Farahan’s catalog of growing up and embracing the sometimes-contradictory aspects of his identity feels conspiratorial in the best way. Even readers who’ve never seen an episode of Shahs of Sunset will be charmed. (Apr.)