A lifetime of finding punchlines in his heartache comes to a shuddering stop when comedian and writer Shawn Hitchins loses two great loves, five months apart, to sudden death. In this deeply poignant memoir that combines sober self-portrait with tender elegy, Hitchins explores the messiness of being alive: the longing and desire, scorching-earth anger, raw grief — and the pathway of healing he discovers when he lets his heart remain open.

Never without an edge of self-awareness, The Light Streamed Beneath It invites the reader into Hitchins’s world as he reckons with his past and stays painfully in the present. As he builds an embodied future, he confronts the stories that have shaped him, sets aside his ambition, and seeks connection in what he used to deflect with laughter — therapy, community and chosen family, movement, spirituality, and an awareness of death’s ever-presence.

A heartrending and hope-filled story of resilience in the wake of death, The Light Streamed Beneath It joyfully affirms that life is essentially good, as Hitchins weaves his tale full of tenacious spirit, humor, kindness, and grit through life’s most unforgiving challenges.

“This is an embodied story of love, loss and recovery — raw, candid and filled with a sense of awe at human resilience.” — Shelf Awareness

“Shawn Hitchins’s writing is generous, beautiful, and fearless in its authenticity; it so warmly embraces love and all that it means to experience it. Each page of The Light Streamed Beneath It is a celebration of life and the complexity of humanity, assuring every reader that we’re not alone in our darkness or loss. Frankly, it is one of the most important books that I’ve read.” — Anne T. Donahue, author of Nobody Cares

“An astoundingly beautiful book that offers readers a heartbreaking yet hopeful story of resilience that ultimately celebrates life — even if it does so in the shadow of insurmountable loss.” — CBC Arts

“Hitchins breathes so much life into a book about death, and he gives both partners second lives through honest and loving depictions of his time with them.” — Xtra Magazine

“With a writing style that is both unabashedly honest and lyrically beautiful, Shawn Hitchins lays bare what it means to love, grieve, and rediscover life.” — The Ampersand Review

“Deeply moving and beautifully told, The Light Streamed Beneath It manages the remarkable: to share an impossibly sad story with vulnerability and tenderness while also carrying us through the pain with care and grace — and even weaving in joy, desire, and utter aliveness along the way. Shawn Hitchins’s path of rebuilding trust in life after absolute heartbreak will stay with me always.” — Christa Couture, author of How to Lose Everything

“In his moving and eloquent memoir, Shawn Hitchins beautifully explores the messiness of our human lives, and reminds us not to mourn what we lose but to celebrate what we gain. While grief is inevitable in every life, The Light Streamed Beneath It serves as a radiant testament that our strongest armour is an open and unafraid heart.” — Brian Francis, author of Fruit and Missed Connections

“The Light Streamed Beneath It offers a viscerally honest retelling of aftermath, all those feelings upon feelings still fresh in memory, all the pain still very much present in the author’s day-to-day life. Yet despite being a book about death, this memoir vibrates with life, love, and desire, all while beautifully honouring those who are gone, the gifts they have given, and the community they have left behind.” — Open Book

“Hitchins pursues self-knowledge, growth and healing in a vulnerable memoir for any reader who has experienced loss.” — Shelf Awareness

“The Light Streamed Beneath It represents exactly the kind of queer transformation story Hitchins wanted it to be – a frank accounting of pain alongside a valediction for love and community.” — That Shakespearean Rag

Comedian Shawn Hitchins explores his irreverent nature in this debut collection of essays. Hitchins doesn’t shy away from his failures or celebrate his mild successes — he sacrifices them for an audience’s amusement. He roasts his younger self, the effeminate ginger-haired kid with a competitive streak. The ups and downs of being a sperm donor to a lesbian couple. Then the fiery redhead professes his love for actress Shelley Long, declares his hatred of musical theatre, and recounts a summer spent in Provincetown working as a drag queen.

Nothing is sacred. His first major break-up, how his mother plotted the murder of the family cat, his difficult relationship with his father, becoming an unintentional spokesperson for all redheads, and many more.

Blunt, awkward, emotional, ribald, this anthology of humiliation culminates in a greater understanding of love, work, and family. Like the final scene in a Murder She Wrote episode, A Brief History of Oversharing promises everyone the A-ha! moment Oprah tells us to experience. Paired with bourbon, Scottish wool, and Humpty Dumpty Party Mix, this journey is best read through a lens of schadenfreude.

“It takes a special kind of person to write a play-by-play description of masturbation that is simultaneously hilarious, repulsive, and sweet. That person is Shawn Hitchins … His book is at turns bawdy and beautiful … He’s not kidding when he says he’s oversharing, but somehow he makes the mix of raw emotion and salty hilarity work.” — Foreword Reviews

“Each moment of sincerity or loss is sandwiched by punchlines and parody … Yet taken as a whole, there’s a gentle depth to the collection, encouraging each of us, through bumbling example, to learn to accept our own quirks and flaws…like many good comedians, Hitchins is willing to excoriate himself to amuse — and, just maybe, enrich — his audience.” — Quill & Quire

“There is an unanticipated poignancy that surfaces frequently in his stories. He is sharing (not oversharing) his vulnerability. There’s not a hint of the maudlin in this. It’s clear-eyed tough writing about the scars as well as the successes.” — David G. Hallman’s blog

“If you revel in reading about the embarrassment of others — namely, Shawn himself — this is a fun read.” — Toronto Star

“I am so glad I am not Shawn Hitchins, but I sure wish I could write like him. A Brief History of Oversharing is hilarious and heartwarming. Reading it is like sharing a warm bath with the man himself. At least I hope it’s the bath that’s warm.” — Michael Urie, actor (The Good Wife, Modern Family, Ugly Betty)

“There is something quite beautiful in the bawdiness we read here.” — Reviews by Amos

“A hilarious, thoughtful collection of essays that ultimately offer a collective message to accept ourselves, Hitchins’ Anthology of Humiliation is the perfect way to add one of Canada’s wittiest voices to any holiday gift exchange.” – CBC Arts, The Year in Queer

“Hilarious and touching.” — CBC Books