Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America

With humor, candor, and some self-deprecation, Thomas, a playwright and Elle columnist, delivers a debut essay collection that explores his search for self, love, and stable employment. Growing up in a “broken-down” Baltimore neighborhood while attending a majority-white private school, Thomas, an African-American, learned that living in a bubble isn’t all that bad—his parents economized and worked tirelessly to insulate him from the world’s injustices. Throughout, he deals with imposter syndrome, as when his college acceptance letters include invitations to events for students of color, causing him to ask himself, “Was I the black they were looking for?” Upon beginning at Columbia, he tentatively enters the gay dating scene; questions his Baptist upbringing, in which “being gay was such a sin it wasn’t even spoken of”; and falls in love with postcolonial literature. After college and several jobs, his life changes when a Facebook post in which he “publicly thirsts” after President Obama goes viral, landing him his Elle dream job. Whether dealing with love, breakups, or other setbacks, Thomas is an affable narrator with a penchant for pop culture, funny quips, and charming humility. Agent: Anna Sproul-Latimer, Ross Yoon Agency. (Feb.)