WHAT IT IS is a just-published collection of essays by Thompson exploring the war between the values he has always held and the reality with which he is confronted as a person of color in twenty-first-century America.

6 pm reception/6:30 pm program Free and open to the public.

Copies of WHAT IT IS will be available for sale and signing courtesy of Joseph-Beth Booksellers.

Reservations required via online ticketing, by calling 513-621-0717, or emailing reservations@mercantilelibrary.com

ABOUT WHAT IT IS: “It is what it is,” a phrase that commonly signals indifference or resignation, becomes instead for Thompson a call to uncover facts and consider them clearly. Crucially, WHAT IT IS suggests how the acceptance of facts as they are can move us beyond complaint and start us on the path towards action and change. In his inquiries into the experiences that shaped his own beliefs and in his dialogues with others, Thompson thoughtfully challenges received wisdom and teases out the contradictions that undergird Americans’ assumptions about race, social services, policing, and the concept of freedom. He confronts the hard questions raised by the presence of ignorance, denial, and, above all, the problem of indifference.

ABOUT CLIFFORD THOMPSON: Thompson’s work has appeared in publications including The Best American Essays 2018, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Threepenny Review, and The Village Voice. He is the recipient of a Whiting Writers’ Award for nonfiction and teaches at New York University, Sarah Lawrence College, and the Bennington Writing Seminars. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.