Impossibly Glamorous – the biography of Charles Ayres

–      Reviewed by Sarah Melton

“Impossibly Glamorous” is a refreshingly funny, unflinchingly real and thoroughly entertaining biography of Charles Ayres – who, while not as well known in his most recent city-of-residence (yet) was quite the radio sensation in Japan. Beginning with a mischievous start as a bit of an outcast in the suburbs of Kansas City (which he describes as “the C-List actress of American cities”), Charles makes his way through life and all its wild twists and turns with a bit of daring, a hearty helping of wit, and more fashion sense than you could throw a tornado-blown house at.

It’s a story of perseverance, and of friendships, both steadfast and shaky. It’s about a search for love, acceptance, and a fervent drive to move up to bigger and better things in life – to make each day just a little more fabulous than the next.  Mr. Ayres accomplishes all that and more, even if he did have to kiss a few frogs (and eat a few eels) to get through it all.

Amid all the laugh-out-loud moments and one-liners throughout the narrative, there were some genuinely touching moments in his story as well. The reaction of his parents, for instance, when he came out of the closet at the height of the AIDS epidemic (and the heightened homophobia was affecting so many of his colleagues). I particularly loved his dad’s reaction to his becoming openly gay, and how far he went to show his son that acceptance that so many youths of that era did not receive. Definitely not least of all, there was his clear and unfaltering love and admiration for his childhood friend, Cèsar, to whom his biography is dedicated.

Then of course, there’s the “grand finale” of this particular chapter of his life – as he had the misfortune to be in Yotsuya, Japan during the earthquake and subsequent tsunami of 2011. I won’t go into much detail of what he experienced there (spoilers!) but can say that his chilling narrative of what transpired in the cities surrounding the hardest hit areas of Japan is definitely worth the read.

Ayres’ writing style is so forthright and amiable that one can read about his life as easily as if you were sitting at the bar with a good friend, sharing a couple of cocktails and kvetching about lost loves, crazy co-workers and the latest fashion fads.  More than a few times, I was drawn in by his waxing nostalgia of his childhood in the ever-materialistic 1980’s, and recalled my own moments of sniffing Strawberry Shortcake heads and losing sleep to late-night Dead Milkmen videos on MTV.  He seemed to wear his heart on his well-adorned sleeves more than once as he spun the tale of his many adventures thus far, and yet never lost the subtle armor of a biting wit and clever quip to tie up his experiences, as each chapter concluded.  It was also fascinating to hear his stories of the celebrities he had the opportunity to interview (via translation) with Tokyo FM, from the Pussycat Dolls to Yoko Ono, and how each of those stories touched him in one way or another.

One thing I did notice throughout the book was what seemed to be a constant running theme in his life – the feeling of always, in some way or another, feeling like an outsider.  Whether it was from being gay in Kansas, middle-class in an upper-class school, being American in Japan, or even as subtle as being the roomie on the outs in a house of three, that feeling of “not quite belonging” was always in the undercurrent.  Though I’m sad that it took something as major as a tsunami to bring him to the San Francisco Bay, I can honestly hope, after all he’s been through, that he finds that sense of belonging he’s been looking for there, at last.

To learn more about Impossibly Glamorous and the works of Charles Ayres, you can visit his website at www.impossiblyglamorous.com.