Congratulations, the Best is Over! by R. Eric Thomas
After going viral “reading” the chaotic political news, having one-too-many awkward social encounters, and coming to terms with his intersecting identities, R. Eric Thomas finally knew who he was and where he was going. He was living his best life.
But then everything changed.
In this collection of insightful and hilarious essays, Thomas moves back to his perpetually misunderstood hometown of Baltimore (a place he never wanted to return, even to be buried) and behaves completely out of character. They say you can’t go home again, but what if you and home have changed beyond recognition? From attending his twenty-year high school reunion and discovering another person’s face on his name badge, to splattering an urgent care room with blood à la The Shining, to being terrorized by a plague of gay frogs who’ve overtaken his backyard, Thomas provides the nitty, and sometimes the gritty, details of wrestling with the life he thought he’d left behind while trying to establish a new one.
With wit, heart, and hope for the future, Congratulations, The Best Is Over! is the not-so-gentle reminder we all need that even when life doesn’t go according to plan, we can still find our way back home.
(Format used for this read: Audiobook)
OMG I absolutely want to be friends with R. Eric Thomas IRL, yall.
Like SERIOUSLY.
The way he writes with such sincerity and sarcasm, honesty and hilarity is the LEGIT BEST EVER.
I read his book “Here for It or How to Save Your Soul in America” last year and I became his fan instantly.
He is humorous AND heartfelt in all his essays about his life….there are chapters about death and grief and relationships but there are also chapters about Oprah’s favorite things and gay frog invasions (you just have to read this, yall!) and having a partner who is very outdoorsy when you are anything BUT.
I can not believe I did not stop to write down some of his hilarious quotes like I did the last time I read a book of his…because YALL….he has some comedic GEMS.
This is a book I listened to and literally laughed out loud NUMEROUS times….like head back, mouth wide open CACKLES.
He reads his own books for the audio version which is AMAZING…he is a MASTER storyteller not just in his writing, but in how he vocalizes as well. He is so expressive and so animated, you truly feel like yall are just good friends chatting and having a grand old time over bottomless mimosas at Sunday brunch.
(He has experience in theater so I am not surprised at ALL that he excels in this area!)
It’s not all light and laughter to be had though….he also had me tearing up a couple times or saying “Awwwww” out loud.
No matter what emotion I was feeling, the one I felt consistently while reading this book was ENJOYMENT.
Go read this book, yall. I listened to it in like 2 days….so so so enjoyable.
And when you’re done with this one, go find Here for It and read that one too.
(and if any of yall know how I can actually make a Sunday brunch with him happen, hit up my DMs ASAP!)