IN THE GREAT TRADITION OF DAVID SEDARIS AND AUGUSTEN BURROUGHS, MEMOIRIST ERIC POOLE RECOUNTS HIS QUIRKY CHILDHOOD YEARS IN UTTERLY HILARIOUS AND PAINFUL DETAIL.
Eric Poole grew up pretending to be Endora from Bewitched in his critically acclaimed memoir, Where’s My Wand? But now that Eric’s facing the outer and self-criticisms that come with high school, college, and young adulthood, he realizes that he’d better try something new. And FAST.
It’s the late 70’s, and Eric Poole is a talented high school trumpet player with one working ear, the height-to-weight ratio of a hat rack, a series of annoyingly handsome bullies, and a mother irrationally devoted to Lemon Pledge. But who he wants to be is a star… ANY star. With equal parts imagination, flair, and delusion, Eric proceeds to emulate a series of his favorite celebrities, like Barry Manilow, Halston, Tommy Tune, and Shirley MacLaine, in an effort to become the man he’s meant to be–that is, anyone but himself.
As he moves through his late teens and early twenties in suburban St. Louis, he casts about for an appropriate outlet for his talents.Will he be a trumpet soloist? A triple-threat actor/singer/dancer? A fashion designer in gritty New York City?
Striving to become the son who can finally make his parents proud, Eric begins to suspect that discovering his personal and creative identities can only be accomplished by admitting who he really is. Picking up at the end of his first acclaimed memoir, Where’s My Wand?, Poole’s journey from self-delusion to acceptance is simultaneously hysterical, heartfelt, and inspiring.
The latest installment in Poole’s comedic memoir trilogy, Excuse Me While I Slip into Someone More Comfortable will be published by Rosetta Books (Simon & Schuster) on May 15, 2018.