Excuse Me While I Slip into Someone More Comfortable

by Eric Poole, Kirby Heyborne (Read by)

Overview

In the great tradition of David Sedaris, David Rakoff, and Augusten Burroughs, memoirist Eric Poole recounts his quirky childhood years in utterly hilarious and painful detail.  

In 1977, 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 20s 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.  

"Oh, my.... Eric Poole's journey of self-delusion and self-discovery had me laughing one minute, crying the next, and rooting for him every second. This charming book is a TV series waiting to happen!" (George Takei, author, actor, and activist)

"Punctuated with highly effective humor, this book could easily serve as a resource for any closeted individuals looking to read another success story. A magnetic collection of real stories that sheds a new light on life in the Midwest." (Kirkus, starred review)

"A touching and RIOTOUSLY funny story about one boy's search for his personal and creative identities in the 1980's Midwest. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll keep your jazz hands to yourself, Mister." (Judith Newman, author of To Siri, with Love)

"A courageous and boldly honest memoir. Eric Poole says things people feel but would never admit to, which makes him vulnerable and endearing." (Wendy E. Simmons, author of My Holiday in North Korea)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781721388226
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	02/05/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 6.75(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Eric Poole’s first memoir received rave reviews and was developed as a television series for ABC. He has written for the Huffington Post, CNN, and The Advocate, and spends more time than he would like penning commercials for everything from McRibs to tampons to TV shows about celebrities boxing. He lives in Southern California with his partner of 16 years. This is his second memoir. Visit www.ericpoole.net for more information.

Table of Contents

1 Manilow of the Hour 1

2 Truth or Dare 25

3 These Boots Were Made for Stealir' 53

4 New York State of Blind 75

5 Tune Deaf 97

6 If They Could See Me Now 122

7 Don't Call Me Shirley 141

8 The Letter 154

9 The Boy Bombeck 177

10 That Boy 203

11 Who Can Turn the World on With His Wig 227

12 Free to Be You and Me 246

Editorial Reviews

"Oh, my... Eric Poole's journey of self-delusion and self-discovery had me laughing one minute, crying the next, and rooting for him every second. This charming book is a TV series waiting to happen!" —George Takei, author, actor, and activist

“Punctuated with highly effective humor, this book could easily serve as a resource for any closeted individuals looking to read another success story. A magnetic collection of real stories that sheds a new light on life in the Midwest.” —Kirkus, starred review

“A touching and RIOTOUSLY funny story about one boy’s search for his personal and creative identities in the 1980’s Midwest. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll keep your jazz hands to yourself, Mister.” —Judith Newman, author of To Siri, With Love

“A courageous and boldly honest memoir. Eric Poole says things people feel but would never admit to, which makes him vulnerable and endearing." —Wendy E. Simmons, author of My Holiday in North Korea

"Equally funny and poignant, Poole's memoir-in-essays is like David Sedaris by way of Judd Apatow, showing how we (everyone really, but particularly LGBT people) often have to try on identities like pieces of clothing, to see what fits and what doesn't. In between the laughs, you'll feel the longing Poole describes for another life, those sometimes-painful glimpses of a realer, truer you." — Michelle Hart, BOOKRIOT

"Former St. Louisan Eric Poole’s second memoir is an anguished and funny romp through Florissant and the Central West End in the 1970s and 1980s that leaves no good detail unpunished." —St. Louis Dispatch

“Wry, witty, and insightful, Excuse Me While I Slip Into Someone More Comfortable is thoroughly enjoyable from cover to cover.” —Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher

A courageous and boldly honest memoir. Eric Poole says things people feel but would never admit to, which makes him vulnerable and endearing."

Wendy E. Simmons

A touching and RIOTOUSLY funny story about one boy’s search for his personal and creative identities in the 1980’s Midwest. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll keep your jazz hands to yourself, Mister.

Judith Newman

"Oh, my... Eric Poole's journey of self-delusion and self-discovery had me laughing one minute, crying the next, and rooting for him every second. This charming book is a TV series waiting to happen!"

George Takei

★ 2018-02-05
An aspiring creative struggles with his identity.In his second memoir, Poole (Where's My Wand?: One Boy's Magical Triumph over Alienation and Shag Carpeting, 2010) describes the hardships he faced as a Christian teenager living in suburban St. Louis. Both self-conscious and feeling like an outsider, the author did not fit into the standard idea of a straight male high school experience. A talented trumpet player, Poole begins his memoir by recounting his disastrous first sexual encounter with a girl, a memorably recounted event that occurred at an illicit, alcohol-drenched party he had to bribe his way into. In this Donna Summer-infused world, the author and his adolescent cohorts were being tested by the changing sociocultural environment. Confident that he was destined to become a star, Poole made it through high school and college with a few hiccups and countless girlfriends. But nothing really seemed to stick—until he met Kurt, a gay man with whom he formed a meaningful connection. Kurt was convinced Poole was gay and openly shared his opinions as often as possible. The author traces his journey through his confusing adolescence and professional forays in the travel and advertising agencies, maps out the gay scene in 1980s St. Louis, and provides crucial insight on the difficulties of coming out within an intolerance societal infrastructure as well as a religious family. Refreshingly, this is not a traditional coming-out story. While many such memoirs capitalize on the author's sexuality, Poole instead focuses on the creation of his entire identity. Sex is merely a component, not a defining factor. Punctuated with highly effective humor, this book could easily serve as a resource for any closeted individuals looking to read another success story.A magnetic collection of real stories that sheds a new light on life in the Midwest.

Kirkus Reviews