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Punch Me Up to the Gods introduces a powerful new talent in Brian Broome, whose early years growing up in Ohio as a dark-skinned Black boy harbouring crushes on other boys propel forward this gorgeous, aching, and unforgettable debut.
Brian’s recounting of his experiences—in all their cringe-worthy, hilarious, and heartbreaking glory—reveal a perpetual outsider awkwardly squirming to find his way in. Indiscriminate sex and escalating drug use help to soothe his hurt, young psyche, usually to uproarious and devastating effect. A no-nonsense mother and broken father play crucial roles in our misfit’s origin story. But it is Brian’s voice in the retelling that shows the true depth of vulnerability for young, queer Black boys that is often quietly near to bursting at the seams.
Universally resonant and thought-provokingly specific, Punch Me Up to the Gods is at once playful, poignant, and wholly original. Broome’s writing brims with swagger and sensitivity, bringing an exquisite and fresh voice to ongoing cultural conversations about racism and homophobia
Author: Brian Broome
Paperback Published 4 January 2022 272 pages
"Punch Me Up to the Gods feels like a gift. There will come a day when some Black child . . . will have read Broome's masterwork and possibly commit to staying alive because of Broome's words. They will tell him that Punch Me Up to the Gods is a testament to the insurgent and ineradicable power of Black queer being. That it reveals that Black queer men are our own best creations."--New York Times Book Review
"This devastatingly beautiful memoir about growing up Black and gay in rural Ohio introduces a major literary talent in Broome."--Entertainment Weekly