Here for It Book Review
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A Review of Here For It: Or, How To Save Your Soul in America
Author: R. Eric Thomas | Pages: 271 | Available here
““Every story, whether truth or fiction, is an invitation to imagination, but even more so, it’s an invitation to empathy. The storyteller says, “I am here. Does it matter?” The words that I found in these books were a person calling out from a page, “I am worthy of being heard and you are worthy of hearing my story.””
A memoir-in-essays from R. Eric Thomas (of Elle’s “Eric Reads the News”), this book is a funny and heartfelt tale of the author’s growth from child to adulthood, as he learns to navigate what it means to not only be Black, but gay in America. The book is at times both simultaneously funny and sad as he shares (through hilarious side commentary) his experiences growing up in a world where he constantly felt like an “Other.” Through this collection of essays, Here for It touches upon the struggles to fit in and what it means to stick to your beliefs in a way that all readers can relate to.
How Comforters Became The Essay to Define Quarantine
Perhaps in one of the book’s most relatable essays, Comforters is a deep dive into isolation and wanting to be comfortable. While Thomas references peach-scented candles and feather down comforters, this is really a metaphor wanting to experience the closeness of another person. Referred to as “boo season,” a time when single people search for a partner to weather the cold winter, it can be most relatable when applied to current events. Many of us find ourselves weathering this “winter” of coronavirus at home, yearning for our missed friends and the connectedness of our community. We can all relate to the isolation that Eric feels as he yearns to be in a relationship with another person and we yearn simply to have someone to connect with, to touch and to hold during this time. In fact, one could easily compare his description of winter—a time to “hunker down”—as we are in the season of sheltering-at-home. The desire to be surrounded by our community, friends, and loved ones is even greater in this season than ever before. As Thomas strives to improve the comfortability of his home with candles and comforters, so, too, do many Americans seek the comforts of a cozy home as we find ourselves spending more time than ever within its four walls. This might be our favorite essay of the entire memoir and most certainly not one to miss. Besides, who can’t relate to the feel-good emotion of new belongings and cozy home vibes?
““The feeling of being alone, I’ve found, is the poison that has no taste. It seeps in slowly and easily; it never seems unusual. Isolation presents as an undesired state but nothing serious, nothing permanent, until the lonely nights become lonely months. Community goes from being a distant goal to a forgotten idea.””
The Pressure to Be Successful
Another relatable theme in Here for It is R. Eric Thomas’ desire to not only fit in, but find his way in a society that values success and passion over all else. Perhaps one of the heaviest struggles of the Millennial generation is the pressure to be successful in life and careers. Not only is one expected to know what you want to do with your life, but you are expected to be passionate. You are expected to make a difference in the world. You are expected to do something that matters. The pressure is intense and often, we are so terrified of making a mistake along the way that we opt to make no decisions at all, finding ourselves frozen in fear of what comes next. What do I want to be? That question doesn’t always have an easy answer and many of us simply don’t know. And Thomas shows us that that is okay. We can make mistakes, we can fail out of college, we can choose multiple career paths. And perhaps, our dream job is not what we expected it would be—maybe it simply falls into our lap. But he shows that we can give ourselves grace and allow ourselves to open our hearts to what may come our way.
““These were the moments when I was reminded that no matter how passively I engaged with my blackness, it was never not a force at work in my life. And, I found, the knowledge of my blackness could be used as a weapon against me at any moment.””
The Power of Your Own Voice
In yet another deeply rooted theme through the memoir, R. Eric Thomas discusses openly the power of using his voice. When he wrote an article for the school newspaper entitled, “An Idiot’s Guide to Black History Month,” he had little idea the widespread impact this journalistic piece would have. The unexpected reception that his voice had and, which ultimately helped to catapult his career into writing, showed how even the smallest voice can be heard. It’s a powerful statement that even though you may feel that your voice does not matter or that you may not be heard, your voice is likely having a much larger impact than you believe.
Conclusion:
While Here For It suffers the same fate as many short story or essay collections—the good ones are great, the others simply forgettable—it is a refreshing and funny take on the world through the eyes of someone who never felt that he truly fit in. Each story and piece of himself is relatable to the reader in a different way, whether you resonate with the stories of growing up Black, struggling with sexual orientation, or simply what it means to be a human in today’s modern world, this memoir-in-essays in an often light-hearted, yet thoughtful read that is worth picking up.
