Here for It

Or, How to Save Your Soul in America; Essays

By: R. Eric Thomas

Narrated by: R. Eric Thomas

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Read with Jenna Book Club Pick as Featured on Today • From the creator of Elle’s “Eric Reads the News,” a heartfelt and hilarious memoir-in-essays about growing up seeing the world differently, finding unexpected hope, and experiencing every awkward, extraordinary stumble along the way.

“Pop culture–obsessed, Sedaris-level laugh-out-loud funny . . . [R. Eric Thomas] is one of my favorite writers.”—Lin-Manuel Miranda, Entertainment Weekly

FINALIST FOR THE LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY TEEN VOGUE AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY O: The Oprah Magazine • NPR • Marie Claire • Men’s Health

R. Eric Thomas didn’t know he was different until the world told him so. Everywhere he went—whether it was his rich, mostly white, suburban high school, his conservative black church, or his Ivy League college in a big city—he found himself on the outside looking in.

In essays by turns hysterical and heartfelt, Thomas reexamines what it means to be an “other” through the lens of his own life experience. He explores the two worlds of his childhood: the barren urban landscape where his parents’ house was an anomalous bright spot, and the Eden-like school they sent him to in white suburbia. He writes about struggling to reconcile his Christian identity with his sexuality, the exhaustion of code-switching in college, accidentally getting famous on the internet (for the wrong reason), and the surreal experience of covering the 2016 election for Elle online, and the seismic changes that came thereafter. Ultimately, Thomas seeks the answer to these ever more relevant questions: Is the future worth it? Why do we bother when everything seems to be getting worse? As the world continues to shift in unpredictable ways, Thomas finds the answers to these questions by reenvisioning what “normal” means and in the powerful alchemy that occurs when you at last place yourself at the center of your own story.

Here for It will resonate deeply and joyfully with everyone who has ever felt pushed to the margins, struggled with self-acceptance, or wished to shine more brightly in a dark world. Stay here for it—the future may surprise you.

r. eric thomas is a national treasure

genuine and hilarious satire at its finest
sent me down a mr. rogers rabbit hole
soaked with glorious pop culture references and wrapped in great story telling
r. eric thomas - i will read all you write

So wonderful!

I loved this so much! Eric shares his life and gets you thinking deeply but in such a funny way.

Highly recommend this as an audiobook!

First, I never heard of him before, but LOVE his writing! The humor and the vulnerability and observations. Second: this is one of those books that I highly recommend listening to as the author reads it and it adds even more to this excellent book!

Loved it!

Who is this person that’s going to take over for Ask Amy? IMWTK! I’m so glad to find this funny, insightful, vulnerable, life-affirming answer. And now I get to read the daily column hearing Eric’s voice in my head! I’m here for it!

Brings Out Every Emotion

I couldn’t put this book down! Actually, I got the audible version read by Eric himself! Funny, introspective, charming, witty - but mostly funny. I laughed out loud so many times. His use of vocabulary brought such a clarity to the story; it totally draws you in. I would highly recommend!