Humorist R. Eric Thomas Wonders If The 'Best Is Over'

Fresh Air

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4.4 • 34.4K Ratings

🗓️ 16 August 2023

⏱️ 45 minutes

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Summary

Playrwright and humorist R. Thomas' new book, Congratulations, the Best Is Over!, is about middle age, and what it was like to reluctantly return to his hometown of Baltimore as an adult — when both he and the city had changed. He spoke with Tonya Mosley about life transitions, church, and why he doesn't want to talk about The Wire.

Also, jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a new Blue Note box set by pianist Sonny Clark.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Fresh Air. I'm Tanya Mosley, and today we're talking with author and humorist
0:04.6	our Eric Thomas. You know that expression you can never go home again. It's a reminder
0:10.1	of how nostalgia can sometimes warp our sense of the past. Our Eric Thomas' new book
0:15.0	explores what it actually feels like in practice to go back to the place where you were born,
0:20.5	especially when your relationship with that place is complicated. The book is called
0:24.4	Congratulations, The Best Is Over, and it's a series of humorous essays recounting Thomas's
0:29.7	journey back to his hometown of Baltimore. After going off to college, Thomas thought
0:34.5	he'd left the city in the rearview mirror. Until his husband got a new job there, forcing
0:39.1	him to wrestle with the life and version of himself, he thought he'd left behind.
0:44.1	Our Eric Thomas is a television writer, playwright, and author of the best-selling book
0:48.0	here for it, or How to Save Your Soul in America, reclaiming her time, the power of
0:53.0	Maxine Waters, and the young adult novel Kings of Bemore. Thomas is also the long-running
0:58.5	host of the Moth in Philadelphia, and previously a senior staff writer for L Online, which
1:03.9	he wrote the popular Eric Reads the News column. Our Eric Thomas, welcome to Fresh Air.
1:09.6	Tanya, I am so excited to be here. Good to talk to you.
1:12.8	I know me too. I'm glad to have you. So you call this book of essays a coming of middle
1:19.2	age collection, and I love that so much because there really aren't enough middle age stories
1:24.1	out there. How does it feel to be in your new form as a middle-aged person? You're
1:30.8	41, right?
1:31.8	I'm 42, but I'm about 27.
1:34.2	42?
1:35.2	Yes.
	...

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