Interesting bio to a point, until he repeats endlessly how out of place he felt during Pete Buttigieg’s campaign. The book became laborious halfway through as Chasten tries to understand politics and his role as Pete’s husband. ( )

What a lovely surprise. Not only a good writer, but a book filled with nothing but sunshine, no matter how rough things got. He grew up the youngest of 4 boys on a small Minnesota farm. His parents were just getting by, but they were able to turn their hands to all sorts of skills and Chasten was right in there happily helping when needed, which was most of the time; since his brothers didn't really appear much in the book. -- they were probably staying to play sports after school.
His college years were somewhat stressful , when with no clear goals --or perhaps too many--he seemed to be in a whirlwind for a couple of years. He finally settled on teaching where his artistic leanings & drama courses helped enormously. A very successful teacher and a profession that he loved. Then Mayor Pete came into his life via a telephone connection. Once they moved in to Pete's house, there was not much time before Pete's bid for head of the Democrats in the 2020 Presidential run, and the gruelling campaign. For personal details -- get a copy. It's a calming interval in the midst of all the crazy political stuff going on a the moment.

HE CERTAINLY HAS SOMEHING TO TELL US. ANNOUNCEMENT TODAY: THEY NOW HAVE TWO BABIES -- A GIRL & A BOY. Best of luck to the family. ( )

Chasten was one of the few candidate spouses I loved following on social media through the campaign trail because there is genuine warmth in his words and he just seemed very normal. And that persona truly comes across in his memoir, especially while listening to him narrate his story. While he makes it seem a lot of fun to listen to, there is also a lot of pain that comes across especially when he is talking about his teenage years, grappling with his sexuality while living in an environment that seemed very antagonistic to his existence. But his meeting Mayor Pete and the story leading upto their marriage is really sweet, but very much contrasting to what happens next during the campaign. I liked his insights into how it all works because it feels like the account is coming from someone normal and outside of the political milieu, just like us everyday citizens and it was a fascinating insight. And I’m sure it can’t be easy for anyone to go from being a middle school teacher to getting death threats in the mail.

Overall, this was a very heartfelt look into his life until now, all the sad and happy parts put together, and I enjoyed getting to know him better. And I can only wish good luck for their future. ( )

If you paid attention at all to the candidates running in the Democratic primaries in 2020, you are likely familiar with Chasten Buttigieg, the husband of Pete Buttigieg. I was quite impressed with Pete and Chasten myself. I've read Pete's book Shortest Way Home. I watched Chasten introduce Pete on TV when Pete withdrew from the race, and I've followed Chasten on Twitter since then. So I had some idea of his story and his personality before I picked up this book.

I Have Something to Tell You is Chasten's memoir of his life up through the point where Pete withdrew from the presidential race. The story of his early years is a "quite common" one, as he says (at least up until the point where he marries the mayor of South Bend and then supports him as his spouse in his bid for the White House).

The commonness of Chasten's story is actually a big part of what made him so relatable as a candidate's spouse in 2020, and what helped to blow up his social media following while Pete was campaigning. He is the real deal - a midwestern kid from a hard working family who struggled with his coming out and with self assurance; who worked multiple jobs to support himself while he stumbled through majors to finally get a bachelor's degree; who ended up with more student debt than he could afford and struggled to pay it off; and who, after dating a lot of frogs, finally found and married his prince.

Chasten is an empathetic, funny and self deprecating kind of guy, and that comes across in his social media and in this book. He writes with a clear voice and an easy to read style.

I rate I Have Something to Tell You 4 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I really liked this book and was glad I read it. It moved me emotionally. I recommend it. ( )

Sometimes celebrity books turn out to be duds, but that’s not so with Chasten Buttigieg’s memoir. I, too, was a 4-H kid and as I read this, I wondered how many of the kids I knew had the same struggles. Its clear that his early struggles and his success at graduating from college helped him face what was going to happen to him on a national political campaign. Its easy to read. He tells his story with humor and reveals much about the life he has experienced as the spouse of Pete Buttigeig. ( )