Bestselling author, R. Eric Thomas, wrote “Here for It” in 2020 and it continues to reverberate in the hearts and minds of readers because of its timely topics and riveting personal story—making it a perfect “revisit” for our book club community! With humor and vulnerability, Eric shares about his memoir which is equal parts hilarity and heart–and what it took to write about his intersecting identities as a Black, queer, Christian man.

Join Jen and Eric as they traverse transforming the ordinary into the profoundly funny and insightful.

Book Summary:

In his memoir of essays “Here for It,” Eric attempts to define what it means to be an “other” through his experience growing up in two very different worlds — the urban landscape of his parents home in Baltimore and then the wealthy, white suburb where he went to private school. He tries to figure out how to reconcile all of this, not just these two wildly different racial and class spaces, but also his Christian upbringing with his sexuality as a gay man; the exhaustion of code switching; accidentally finding internet fame; covering the 2016 election and all of that aftermath. Ultimately, he is seeking to answer whether the future is worth it when everything seems to be getting worse. He re-envisions what could be by placing himself at the center of his own story and sharing his experiences with us.

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Guest’s Links:

R. Eric Thomas’s Website - https://rericthomas.com/

R. Eric Thomas’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/oureric/

R. Eric Thomas’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/oureric

R. Eric Thomas’s Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/R.Eric.T/

Books & Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Here for It or How to Save Your Soul in America by R. Eric Thomas - https://bit.ly/3KFKdTV

The Preacher’s Wife - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Preacher%27s_Wife

Congratulations, The Best Is Over by R. Eric Thomas - https://bit.ly/3RdAY1E

Kings of Baltimore by R. Eric Thomas - https://bit.ly/3PxKvQ4

Dickinson (TV Series) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8518136/

Better Things (TV Series) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4370596/

The Moth - https://bit.ly/3Vl3YFb

Andre DeShields - https://www.andredeshields.com/

Clue (The 1985 Movie) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clue_(film)

Amy Dickinson - https://amydickinson.com/

R. Eric Thomas’s Here For It  News Letter - https://letter.rericthomas.com/

Maxine Waters - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxine_Waters 

Ann Patchett - http://www.annpatchett.com/

Festival of Homiletics - https://festivalofhomiletics.com/

Connect with Jen!

Jen’s website - http://jenhatmaker.com/ 

Jen’s Instagram - https://instagram.com/jenhatmaker

Jen’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/jenHatmaker/ 

Jen’s Facebook - https://facebook.com/jenhatmaker

Jen’s YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/JenHatmaker

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