Listening Through My Life

A message to my community

Dear Readers, Listeners, and Viewers,

I’m currently in New York City recording the audiobook for my memoir, Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black Conservative. Between writing fragments and drafts, going through rounds of edits, and meticulously combing through my prose to tweak a phrase here or add a sentence there, I’ve silently read the manuscript dozens of times. But I’d never read it aloud before this weekend.

Speaking my prose aloud and then hearing my voice played back to me has allowed me to relive both the writing of the book and the experiences that I’m writing about. Some of this is fun and joyful: encountering a passage of which I’m particularly proud, recalling the births of my children, narrating the development of a piece of economic theory. Some of it is painful: the arrests, the betrayals, the feelings of shame that attended a bad decision. I put everything I have into this book, and “talking” through it all for hours a day is dizzying.

The audiobook will be available for those who prefer to listen to my story. Hard copies of the book will be available on May 14. I confess that I’m an old-fashioned reader. I like absorbing prose at my own pace and pausing to consider a thought-provoking passage or a well-turned phrase. So if you’re like me and you savor the weight of a book in your hand, the scent of the paper, and the unique intimacy of losing yourself in print, I urge you to preorder the book today. You can do that using the links below or by placing your order wherever you get your books. Preordering will ensure you get your copy of Late Admissions as soon as possible. It will also help boost the book’s visibility on best-seller lists and sales ranking lists.

That may sound crass, but after spending so long on this project, I want as many people as possible to read it. With all modesty, I think people will recognize themselves in aspects of my story. I truly hope it will help them understand their own place in the world, as writing it has helped me understand mine. Thanks, as always, for reading, and much gratitude to all who have bought the book and (mostly importantly) will read it.

Yours Sincerely,

Glenn

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