What You Into?
Published on 29. October 2024
217 pages
978-1-76068-909-4 (ISBN)
Description
'What you into?'
'I can host if ur looking?'
'What you into?'
'Do you like straight married men?'
'What you into?'
'Wanna meet in the bushes at the park?'
So many messages and not a single one asked how I was or what my name is. After a few minutes of bleak scrolling, I realised the only things I'm into are basic manners, commitment and being happily married. Which I also realised I wouldn't be finding on here. I've heard that apps are cutthroat, but I didn't think like this. Still, that didn't stop me going off to meet the ninth stranger to ping into my inbox after finding myself getting sadder and sadder with each anonymous proposition to ping my way. I regretted going before I even left my house.
Raw, moving and savagely funny, What You Into? is Josh Fox's autobiographical account of his spiral into the Grindr world of casual sex, hook-ups and dating apps following the break-up of his marriage.
He documents this journey diary-style, chronicling the often weird, at times dark world of casual sex as he navigates his grief and anger through the consumption of men - only to discover that he too is being consumed by the process.
Fox's unflinching account of his descent into sex addiction, his struggle with depression and his search for a way back is framed within the broader background of his life. He shares his difficult upbringing in a housing estate in Manchester, and gives a self-critical commentary on his media career (and his complicated relationship with 'celebrity'), from his time as a teenage YouTube star and paparazzo through to his work in Australian radio.
What You Into? is a story of the push and pull of addiction, the power of compulsion over shame, the search for healing through destruction - set against the need for love and the desire to feel alive.
'I can host if ur looking?'
'What you into?'
'Do you like straight married men?'
'What you into?'
'Wanna meet in the bushes at the park?'
So many messages and not a single one asked how I was or what my name is. After a few minutes of bleak scrolling, I realised the only things I'm into are basic manners, commitment and being happily married. Which I also realised I wouldn't be finding on here. I've heard that apps are cutthroat, but I didn't think like this. Still, that didn't stop me going off to meet the ninth stranger to ping into my inbox after finding myself getting sadder and sadder with each anonymous proposition to ping my way. I regretted going before I even left my house.
Raw, moving and savagely funny, What You Into? is Josh Fox's autobiographical account of his spiral into the Grindr world of casual sex, hook-ups and dating apps following the break-up of his marriage.
He documents this journey diary-style, chronicling the often weird, at times dark world of casual sex as he navigates his grief and anger through the consumption of men - only to discover that he too is being consumed by the process.
Fox's unflinching account of his descent into sex addiction, his struggle with depression and his search for a way back is framed within the broader background of his life. He shares his difficult upbringing in a housing estate in Manchester, and gives a self-critical commentary on his media career (and his complicated relationship with 'celebrity'), from his time as a teenage YouTube star and paparazzo through to his work in Australian radio.
What You Into? is a story of the push and pull of addiction, the power of compulsion over shame, the search for healing through destruction - set against the need for love and the desire to feel alive.
More details
Person
Joshua Fox is best known for trying to be funny on social media, oversharing on Australian radio and being unashamedly open about his sex life, sexuality and the struggles of being a gay man in the age of Grindr and endless hook-up apps. Born in Manchester, he started his career as Britain's youngest paparazzo photographer at the age of 16 before becoming a tabloid journalist at Now magazine, The Sun and Daily Mail Australia. During this time, he was frequently conflicted about crossing the very fine line between entertainment and exploitation, and would often question his moral compass while mingling with the likes of Taylor Swift and Paris Hilton. After relocating to Sydney in 2017, he built a following by sharing his videos of crashing Married at First Sight weddings, joining The Kyle & Jackie O Show as producer Yeah But No But Josh, and becoming an unlikely mental health advocate. Joshua also finds it quite cringe writing about himself in the third person, as he is doing right now on this page, so apologises for this intro, but his publisher said he had to do one.
