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nadia's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.25
This was a really powerful memoir and I especially recommend the audiobook, read by Broome himself. Broome vividly portrayed the harsh struggles around growing up as a black boy in America, and one who knows he is different in more ways than one, not fitting in to the role society expects him to play.
I particularly appreciated the discussion around black parenting and how the way love and care is demonstrated may manifest itself in different, seemingly strange and punishing, ways, born out of a necessity to survive in a country that doesn't want to accept you.
Perfect for lovers of memoirs that explore themes of identity, sexuality, race in America, masculinity, addiction, motherhood, and fatherhood, the latter especially in black families!
I particularly appreciated the discussion around black parenting and how the way love and care is demonstrated may manifest itself in different, seemingly strange and punishing, ways, born out of a necessity to survive in a country that doesn't want to accept you.
Perfect for lovers of memoirs that explore themes of identity, sexuality, race in America, masculinity, addiction, motherhood, and fatherhood, the latter especially in black families!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Homophobia, and Racism
lpfoley's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Broome’s writing is visceral. Each vulnerable story he shares about his childhood, his relationship with his father, his relationship with his mother, his addiction, his shame around not fitting into the mold of masculinity that was prescribed to him — each damn story — is told absolutely dripping in truth and emotion. It’s such an honest peek into a beautiful human spirit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual content
parasolcrafter's review
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
mihrreader's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.5
Beautifully written, deeply insightful, definitely worth the read. Heavy at parts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Racism
mpruter's review
dark
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, and Outing
mitzybitzyspider's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny and Suicide
Minor: Suicide attempt
dramaqueentears's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
When I saw the glowing review that Kiese Laymon wrote for this memoir, I immediately added it to my TBR and it did not disappoint. Brian Broome’s memoir is incredible.
I think it was an incredible picture of how homophobia and anti-Blackness intersect. He writes of his upbringing in northeastern Ohio and how he eventually ended up in the big city of Pittsburgh hoping that his trauma wouldn’t follow him, but unfortunately it did. He had a lot to say about the toxic masculinity that his father enforced, the racism he experienced in the gay dating scene, and the experience of searching for love because he felt like it was missing from his life.
This memoir is written in essays that jump around various points of his life. I also liked the essays that he wrote comparing parts of his time growing up to experiences he had as an adult.
I have mixed feelings about the parts of the book following Broome’s observations of a young Black boy on the bus in Pittsburgh with his father. On one hand, I understand the point of what he was trying to do, but sometimes it felt like projection. I very well acknowledge I could be wrong though.
I think it was an incredible picture of how homophobia and anti-Blackness intersect. He writes of his upbringing in northeastern Ohio and how he eventually ended up in the big city of Pittsburgh hoping that his trauma wouldn’t follow him, but unfortunately it did. He had a lot to say about the toxic masculinity that his father enforced, the racism he experienced in the gay dating scene, and the experience of searching for love because he felt like it was missing from his life.
This memoir is written in essays that jump around various points of his life. I also liked the essays that he wrote comparing parts of his time growing up to experiences he had as an adult.
I have mixed feelings about the parts of the book following Broome’s observations of a young Black boy on the bus in Pittsburgh with his father. On one hand, I understand the point of what he was trying to do, but sometimes it felt like projection. I very well acknowledge I could be wrong though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Fatphobia
sara_m_martins's review
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
"we learn that white boys are people and Asian boys are exotic and Hispanic boys are luxurious and Black boys are for sex."
Punch Me Up to the Gods is a raw, powerful memoir that explores the ideals of Black masculinity, and that intersection with the queer identity, and what it is to be a queer Black man in the USA. It is brutal, powerful and superbly honest.
The memoir comes as a collection of essays about moments throughout Brian Broome's life, glavanized (and organized for us) through a shared bus trip between narrator and a small Black boy named Tuan. I found this really interesting, and this starting point made me reflect and approach the essays in such a different way.
This book talks of racism, homophobia, physical/emotional/sexual abuse, toxic masculinity, misogyny, family, addiction/alcoholism. With humour and a great writing style (felt almost poetic at points), one feels saddened but still wants to keep reading.
I really appreciate the realness and unsanitized depictions. This is seen in other themes too, but Brian talks about being queer while not being a "good queer" - ashamed, denial, hidding, wishing it away; cowardice sometimes feels forbidden to queer stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent
abbie_'s review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Free audiobook provided by Libro.fm!
2021 has been the year of the audiobook memoir for me 🙌 There really is nothing like having the author narrate their own experiences to you! Brian Broome’s memoir of growing up Black and gay in Ohio is a heart-stomper. Broome doesn’t hold anything back, doesn’t try to sweep the less-than-savoury episodes in his life under the rug. He bares all with the reader, from struggling to find his place (seemingly too Black for the gay community and too gay for the Black community in Ohio), to hook-up encounters, to seeking escape in drink and drugs. It’s all there.
2021 has been the year of the audiobook memoir for me 🙌 There really is nothing like having the author narrate their own experiences to you! Brian Broome’s memoir of growing up Black and gay in Ohio is a heart-stomper. Broome doesn’t hold anything back, doesn’t try to sweep the less-than-savoury episodes in his life under the rug. He bares all with the reader, from struggling to find his place (seemingly too Black for the gay community and too gay for the Black community in Ohio), to hook-up encounters, to seeking escape in drink and drugs. It’s all there.
.
I particularly liked his commentary on masculinity, and the way Black boys have the ‘ideals’ of this masculinity projected onto them every day from a young age. Throughout the memoir, Broome recounts a (sometimes long-winded) episode where he’s watching a young Black boy and his father on a bus. Watching this episode play out gives Broome room to reflect on the ways masculinity was enforced in his own life, and the letter to the young boy at the end was beautiful.
.
A little taster of the writing so you can see how moving a memoir this is:
‘This being a man, to the exclusion of all other things. I remember how my own tears were seen as an affront. I remember my father looking at me as if I were leaking gasoline and about to set the whole concept of Black manhood on fire. “Stop crying. Be a man”.’
.
Highly recommend, especially the audio!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism
leahsbooks's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
For my full review of this book and others, visit my blog at http://leahs-books.com/2021/03/21/punch-me-up-to-the-gods/
Thank you to Bookish First for providing me with a copy of this book. I am giving my honest opinion voluntarily.
Thank you to Bookish First for providing me with a copy of this book. I am giving my honest opinion voluntarily.
This was a memoir that felt more like a story, and I couldn’t put it down. Brian Broome shares the story of his life, deftly weaving the experience as he watches a young Black boy on a bus with tales of his childhood and contrasts them with the experiences of his adulthood. While he shares these stories, he doesn’t hold anything back.
Growing up as a young, dark-skinned, poor Black boy in rural Ohio, Brian wasn’t in an ideal situation. He dealt with racism early, and faced abuse from his father in the hopes of helping him to act like less of a sissy. His peers bullied him for being gay even before he knew anything about sex, and this strongly influenced his views of race and sexuality for a long time.
“But my Black, male body has betrayed its manhood on many occasions. My hips have swing too freely, and my heart has allowed itself to be broken far too easily. Tears, by far, have been my most pernicious traitors, and it took a long time before I was able to dry the wellspring up. My body has finally learned.”
However, these internalized views impacted his behavior into adulthood, slowing his path to self-acceptance. A lot of the book was so painful to read, and there were so many times that I wanted to just give the author a huge hug and tell him that he was just fine the way he was, even though I know that it wouldn’t have changed those long-held beliefs.
But I think the part of the book that I enjoyed the most was how it portrayed the author as a work in progress. It’s a memoir, so it doesn’t all wrap up neatly with a full resolution the way a fictional story would. The author doesn’t share his story from a place of nirvana, where he has reached a place of perfection, emotional enlightenment, and complete healing. He just talks about his story and lives in his truth, using a simple yet deep and evocative writing style. I loved seeing his progress through life and the work he puts in towards self-acceptance.
“When I was a kid, I thought that the key to being a Black man was to learn how to properly lean on things to look cool. What I didn’t know at the time is that what Black men lean on the most, whether we want to admit it or not, is Black women.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, and Suicide attempt
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