As a disclaimer, I have read through most of the collection. Gerard’s choice to begin Sunshine State with “BFF” is clearer after having read the rest of the essays, and I believe it is meant to function as a thematic introduction to the collection. It also works as a stand alone essay. Particularly, as an example of mildly experimental structure in personal essay. The style of “BFF” does not match the traditional essays that follow, but the themes do: lies you are told, lies you tell, lies that you live, and the “detritus” of your younger years.

I think this is very clever, but I wasn’t smart enough to catch it the first read through. It illustrates that themes are universal, and that is the key to good, relatable non-fiction. Gerard remembers – in incredibly specific details – the tragedy and romance of an old friend, of their shared childhood. All of the lies and “detritus” of this human relationship are applicable to the environmental and political stories she tells later. In other words, the humanity of this one specific relationship is not so different than the inherently flawed humans that she writes about in political/environmental contexts, and these human created situations are not just happening in Florida. The point I am trying to articulate about craft here is that good essays are written about a specific situation, and the theme is broad. This is not something I have learned from Gerard, but she has accomplished it in a very nuanced way.

The second-person narration in “BFF” is uncomfortable. It has an epistolary feel, but the reader cannot help but associate with the “you” Gerard repeats. Again, I think this speaks to connecting many different situations and people based on the shared, and deeply felt, human experience. Gerard’s use of repetition seems to further this point. The friendship she recalls in “BFF” is surely repeated by others. The issues she reports on in Florida are surely repeated elsewhere. She repeats “love,” but begins with the past tense and moves to present (page 7). The repetition of human issues and experiences are past, present, and future.