Writer Kiese Laymon has had the kind of year every first-time author dreams of: two books published to critical acclaim. But none of that came easily. The title of his most recent book, an essay collection released on Tuesday, hints at how tough the road really was: It's called How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America.
In the essay "The Worst of White Folks," Laymon looks at a bad patch in his life: He had been, essentially, expelled from college and ended up moving back home with his mother, who was understandably unhappy about his abridged status as a college student.