As a relative newcomer to the United States, Maeve Higgins can see with gimlet eyes that our country is flawed. But that doesn't stop her from loving it. With piercing political commentary, and a perfect mix of sweetness and saltiness, these essays seek to shine a light on different pockets of America, warts and all.
Maeve attends the 2020 Border Security Expo in an attempt to understand the future of our borders, and remains flummoxed by the ubiquity of casual firearms. Maeve visits a statue of a teenage girl in a tracksuit on horseback, as she interrogates the purpose of monuments, and what responsibility we have to preserving relics of the past. And after mistaking edibles for innocent candies, Maeve gets way too high at Paper Source. Most of all, Maeve wants to leave this country and this planet better than she found it. And that may mean showing lots of love, even when it's difficult to do so.
Threaded through these pieces is love for strangers, love for best friends who say just the right thing, love for trees, love for Tom Hardy, love for those with differing opinions, love for the glamorous older women of Brighton Beach in tattooed eyeliner and gold jewelry, and love for everybody on this crazy train we call humanity.