I've Been Wrong Before: Essays
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15
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Average rating3
From the award-winning essayist and author of the “shrewd as hell and hysterically funny” (Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties) novel Cheer Up, Mr. Widdicombe comes a moving and unforgettable essay collection about his travels around the globe as he reflects on the power and complexity of human relationships. From the award-winning essay “Lover’s Theme,” in which Evan James explores the life of a drag queen in San Francisco, to his poignant story of coming out in “One Hell of a Homie,” set against the backdrop of the 1992 film Class Act, this essay collection brilliantly captures both the beauty and pain of relationships—friendly, familiar, and romantic. I’ve Been Wrong Before is an eye-opening and heartfelt illustration of how our differences are often the things that bring us closer together. Masterfully balancing tremendous insight with startling humor, this absorbing collection features Evan James’s “wry intelligence and sense of the absurd” (R.O. Kwon, author of The Incendiaries) and is perfect for fans of Alexander Chee and Maggie Nelson.
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Back when the library was open, sometimes I'd read a review of an upcoming book and put a hold on it and then forget about it until like 2-3 months later when it would show up on my holds shelf and I'd be like, “Oh yeah, I think I remember reading about this...“
Anyway this was one of those books, it made it just under the wire of library closure. I get why I'd request it–funny-sad essays, most of which are about travel, some of which are about drag queens...any of those things in a review would have triggered a hold for me. It was nice to read so much about travel right now, when I'm obviously not going anywhere. This is his debut essay collection and I feel like later in his career he could probably write some sharper, stronger essays? Like these were all interesting reads but they didn't necessarily all make points? Sometimes they kind of just sputter out.
Still, if you're called to by any of the basic points that called to me about this, you'll probably enjoy this.
