I cannot remember how this book made it to my TBR pile – chances are good it was in reviewing recommendations from NPRs book concierge. This book is full of beautifully written essays about the things that we do not say to each other that are complicated and possibly the place where life resides. The essays are about race and gender and sexuality, and the way that they are all so complicated – they are ways of seeing and then NOT seeing each other. Miller writes directly into those silences, and honors them. Each essay made me think a little more about how he interacts with the world, and how that is like and not like the way that I interact with the world. Great book to start the new year, in many ways, because it invites so much contemplation. The first and last chapters are letters to James Baldwin, and this pairing works so well to introduce us to this collection and then to just wallop us with truth at the end. Between these letters are essays that explore how what we choose NOT to say so often holds as much power as the things that actually make it into our conversations. From family “secrets”, to discrimination, love affairs, and art – Miller uses his powerful poetic voice to explore life in a way that is both specific and universal. The book offers both a way to challenge ourselves and an escape into elegant prose.
What We Talk About When We Don’t
Things That I Have Withheld by Kei Miller