Punch Me Up to the Gods

Last updated
Punch Me Up to the Gods
Punch Me Up to the Gods.jpg
Author Brian Broome
Language English
Genre Memoir
Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date
May 18, 2021
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint

Punch Me Up to the Gods is a memoir, written by Brian Broome and published May 18, 2021 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The book won the Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction (2021), [1] [2] as well as the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Memoir or Biography (2022). [3] [4]

Contents

Punch Me Up to the Gods chronicles Broome's experience growing up as a queer Black boy in rural Ohio. The New York Times explained that with this book, "Broome hopes to counter the force of that punch by exploring the beauty of queer Black manhood, while offering a new way to write about that beauty." [5]

Background

Broome began writing Punch Me Up to the Gods "while in a drug and alcohol rehab facility in Washington, PA." [6] Unable to sleep, Broome contemplated what had led him to the facility. He wrote down formative experiences in his life, which eventually shaped Punch Me Up to the Gods. [6]

Working with his agent, Danielle Chiotti, Broome started piecing together his writing in February 2018. [6] Broome originally thought of the book as a collection of short, autobiographical stories. However, he soon recognized that the Gwendolyn Brooks’ 1959 poem “We Real Cool” " fit perfectly with the themes emerging." [6]

Punch Me Up to the Gods was sent out for to publishers in October 2019, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt purchased the rights the following month. [6] Although the major themes of the book remained unchanged, Broome's editor, Rakia Clark, helped alter the book's format. [6]

Reception

Punch Me Up to the Gods was well-received, [7] including starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, [8] Library Journal, [9] and Publishers Weekly. [10] Library Journal's Siobhan Egan called it a "compelling memoir bursting at the seams with raw power," [9] and Kirkus Reviews referred to it as "a stellar debut memoir." [8] Publishers Weekly explained, "There are no easy victims or villains in Broome’s painful, urgent telling—his testimony rings out as a searing critique of soul-crushing systems and stereotypes." [10]

The Chicago Review of Books 's Dana Dunham called the memoir "visceral," explaining, "Broome’s stories may take us many places, but they reliably return us to his body. ... Broome writes about his body in a way that you will feel in your own." [11]

Writing for the Porter House Review , Tess Coody-Anders noted that Punch Me Up to the Gods "reads as a series of essays in which voice, time, and even point of view shift in service of evocative, unflinching storytelling." [12]

The memoir also received positive reviews from The New York Times Book Review [13] [14] and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. [15] [16]

Kirkus Reviews, [8] Library Journal, [17] and Publishers Weekly [18] named Punch Me Up to the Gods named one of the best nonfiction books of 2021. The New York Times included the book on its list of the "100 Notable Books of 2021." [19]

Awards and honors
YearAward/HonorResultRef.
2021 Kirkus Prize for NonfictionWinner [1] [2]
2022 Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award Honor [20]
Lambda Literary Award for Gay Memoir or Biography Winner [3] [4]
Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction Winner [21]

Related Research Articles

Melissa Febos is an American writer and professor. She is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir Whip Smart (2010) and the essay collections Abandon Me (2017) and Girlhood (2021).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hanif Abdurraqib</span> American poet and essayist

Hanif Abdurraqib is an American poet, essayist, and cultural critic. His first essay collection, They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us, was published in 2017. His 2021 essay collection A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance received the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence. Abdurraqib received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2021.

<i>Heavy: An American Memoir</i> 2018 memoir by Kiese Laymon

Heavy: An American Memoir is a memoir by Kiese Laymon, published October 16, 2018 by Scribner. In 2019, the book won the Carnegie Medal for Nonfiction and Los Angeles Times Book Prize, among other awards and nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T Kira Madden</span> American writer (born 1988)

T Kira Madden is an American writer. She is the author of a memoir, Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls, and the Founding Editor-in-Chief of No Tokens Journal. In 2021, she received Lambda Literary's Judith A. Markowitz Award for Exceptional New LGBTQ Writers.

<i>Just Mercy</i> (book) Book by Bryan Stevenson

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (2014) is a memoir by American attorney Bryan Stevenson that documents his career defending disadvantaged clients. The book, focusing on injustices in the United States judicial system, alternates chapters between documenting Stevenson's efforts to overturn the wrongful conviction of Walter McMillian and his work on other cases, including children who receive life sentences, and other poor or marginalized clients.

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2021.

<i>Minor Feelings</i> 2020 autobiographical book by Cathy Park Hong

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning is a 2020 autobiographical book of essays written by the Korean American author Cathy Park Hong. It was published by Penguin Random House in the United States and Profile Books in the United Kingdom and is composed of seven essays about growing up as an Asian-American in a Western capitalist society, more specifically in the United States of America. This book won the National Book Critics Circle Award for autobiography in 2020.

<i>Let the Record Show</i> (Schulman book) 2021 oral history of ACT UP by Sarah Schulman

Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987–1993 is a 2021 oral history written by former ACT UP activist Sarah Schulman. Using 188 interviews conducted as part of the ACT UP Oral History Project, Schulman shows how the activist group was successful, due to its decentralized, dramatic actions, and emphasizes the contributions of people of color and women to the movement.

<i>Shout</i> (memoir) 2019 memoir by Laurie Halse Anderson

Shout: The True Story of a Survivor Who Refused to be Silenced is a poetic memoir by Laurie Halse Anderson, published March 12, 2019 by Viking Books. The book is a New York Times best seller.

<i>All Boys Arent Blue</i> 2020 memoir by George M. Johnson

All Boys Aren't Blue is a young adult non-fiction "memoir-manifesto" by journalist and activist George M. Johnson, published April 28, 2020, by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

<i>Fiebre Tropical</i> 2020 novel by Juliàn Delgado Lopera

Fiebre Tropical is a bilingual young adult novel by Juliàn Delgado Lopera, published March 3, 2020 by Feminist Press.

<i>You Exist Too Much</i> 2020 novel by Zaina Arafat

You Exist Too Much is a debut novel by Zaina Arafat, published June 9, 2020 by Catapult. The book won the Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Fiction in 2021.

<i>My Autobiography of Carson McCullers</i> 2020 book by Jenn Shapland

My Autobiography of Carson McCullers is a memoir by Jenn Shapland, published April 2, 2020 by Tin House Books. In 2021, the book won the Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction, the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Memoir, and the Phi Beta Kappa Christian Gauss Award. Along with being longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, it was a finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction and a Stonewall Book Award Honor Book.

George Matthew Johnson, more commonly known as George M. Johnson, is an American author, journalist, and activist. A queer African American, they are best known as the author of the memoir-manifesto All Boys Aren't Blue (2020).

Emma Copley Eisenberg is an American queer writer of fiction and nonfiction works. Her first book, The Third Rainbow Girl, was nominated for an Edgar Award, Lambda Literary Award, and Anthony Bouchercon Award.

<i>Everything Sad Is Untrue</i> 2020 young adult novel by Daniel Nayeri

Everything Sad Is Untrue: is a young adult/middle grade autobiographical novel by Daniel Nayeri, published August 25, 2020 by Levine Querido. In 2021, the book won the Michael L. Printz Award, Judy Lopez Memorial Award for Children's Literature, and Middle East Book Award for Youth Literature.

Hugh Ryan is an American historian and non-fiction writer focusing on the LGBT history of New York City. He wrote The Women's House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison and When Brooklyn Was Queer.

Brian Broome is an American memoirist, poet, and screenwriter from Ohio. He is best known for his award-winning memoir Punch Me Up to the Gods.

Shaun David Hutchinson is an American author of young adult texts. His novels often "combine speculative elements with LGBT characters and themes."

<i>Tell Me Everything: A Memoir</i> 2023 memoir by Minka Kelly

Tell Me Everything: A Memoir is a 2023 memoir by American actress Minka Kelly. It was published on May 2, 2023, by Henry Holt and Company. In the memoir, Kelly discusses her childhood, relationships, personal struggles and rise to fame.

References

  1. 1 2 Liebetrau, Eric (September 13, 2021). "Meet the 2021 Kirkus Prize Nonfiction Finalists". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  2. 1 2 "2021 Winners". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  3. 1 2 Schaub, Michael (2022-06-13). "Lambda Literary Award Winners Are Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
  4. 1 2 Segal, Corinne (2022-06-13). "Congratulations to the winners of the 2022 Lambda Literary Awards!". Literary Hub. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
  5. ↑ Moore, Darnell L. (2021-05-18). "In a New Memoir, the Miracle of Black Queer Self-Creation". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Brewer, Robert Lee. "Brian Broome: On Letting Other Genres Inspire You". Writer's Digest. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
  7. ↑ "Book Marks reviews of Punch Me Up to the Gods: A Memoir by Brian Broome". Book Marks. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
  8. 1 2 3 "Punch Me Up to the Gods: A Memoir". Kirkus Reviews. March 20, 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  9. 1 2 Egan, Siobhan (May 1, 2021). "Punch Me Up to the Gods". Library Journal. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  10. 1 2 Chiotti, Danielle (2021-02-10). "Nonfiction Book Review: Punch Me Up to the Gods: A Memoir by Brian Broome". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  11. ↑ Dunham, Dana (2021-05-24). "The Powers of Kinesthetic Communication in "Punch Me Up to the Gods"". Chicago Review of Books. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  12. ↑ Coody-Anders, Tess (May 17, 2021). "Brian Broome's Punch Me Up to the Gods | Porter House Review". Porter House Reviews. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  13. ↑ Moore, Darnell L. (2021-05-18). "In a New Memoir, the Miracle of Black Queer Self-Creation". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  14. ↑ "12 New Books We Recommend This Week". The New York Times. 2021-06-10. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  15. ↑ Norman, Tony (May 18, 2021). "Review: 'Punch Me' a harrowing memoir of survival in small-town Ohio and Pittsburgh". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  16. ↑ Pitz, Marylynne (May 18, 2021). "Brian Broome fights, redefines Black masculinity in searing memoir". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  17. ↑ Sendaula, Stephanie (2021-12-06). "Best Memoir & Biography of 2021". Library Journal. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  18. ↑ "Best Books 2021: Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  19. ↑ "100 Notable Books of 2021". The New York Times. 2021-11-22. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  20. ↑ Chapman, Monica (2022-02-01). "2022 Barbara Gittings Literature Award and Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award of the Stonewall Book Awards announced". News and Press Center. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  21. ↑ "Here Are the Winners of the 2022 Publishing Triangle Awards". The Publishing Triangle. 2022-05-11. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.