The Yellow House (book)

Last updated
The Yellow House
The Yellow House (Sarah M. Broom).png
First edition cover
Author Sarah M. Broom
Audio read bySarah M. Broom
Cover artistAlison Forner [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Subject Memoir
Publisher Grove Press
Publication date
August 13, 2019
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback), e-book, audiobook
Pages384
Awards National Book Award for Nonfiction (2019)
ISBN 978-0-8021-2508-8 (hardcover)
814/.6 B
LC Class PS3602.R6458 Y45 2019

The Yellow House is a memoir by Sarah M. Broom. It is Broom's first book and it was published on August 13, 2019, by Grove Press. [2] The Yellow House chronicles Broom's family (mapping back approximately 100 years), her life growing up in New Orleans East, and the eventual demise of her beloved childhood home after Hurricane Katrina. Broom also focuses on the aftermath of Katrina and how the disaster altered her family and her neighborhood. At its core, the book examines race, class, politics, family, trauma, and inequality in New Orleans and America. The Yellow House won the 2019 National Book Award for Nonfiction.

Contents

Publication

The Yellow House was published by Grove Press on August 13, 2019, [2] following the publication of an early excerpt in the New Yorker in 2015. [3] The book debuted at number 11 on the Hardcover Nonfiction best sellers list for the September 1, 2019, edition of The New York Times . [4]

Reception

In a pre-publication review, Dwight Garner of the New York Times wrote, "This is a major book that I suspect will come to be considered among the essential memoirs of this vexing decade." [5] In the New York Times Book Review, Angela Flournoy called it “an instantly essential text.” [6] The Star Tribune opined that Broom's book had “essentially told the story of black America in one fell swoop.” [7] Other publications to declare the book's importance included Publishers Weekly . [8] and Kirkus Reviews [9] Quoting the book itself, Kirkus Reviews opined that The Yellow House reflected the author's attempt "to reckon with 'the psychic cost of defining oneself by the place where you are from,'" adding that "Broom's lyrical style celebrates her family bonds, but a righteous fury runs throughout the narrative at New Orleans' injustices, from the foundation on up." [9]

In November 2019, The Yellow House won the National Book Award for Nonfiction. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] The book was named one of the top 10 books of 2019 by both the New York Times Book Review [15] and the Washington Post . [16] The Yellow House won the John Leonard Award for Best First Book from the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Awards. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Isaacson</span> American author, journalist and professor

Walter Seff Isaacson is an American author, journalist, and professor. He has been the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C., the chair and CEO of CNN, and the editor of Time.

<i>The Glass Castle</i> 2005 memoir by Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle is a 2005 memoir by American author Jeannette Walls. Walls recounts her dysfunctional and nomadic yet vibrant upbringing, emphasizing her resilience and her father's attempts toward redemption. Despite her family's flaws, their love for each other and her unique perspective on life allowed her to create a successful life of her own, culminating in a career in journalism in New York City. The book's title refers to her father's ultimate unfulfilled promise, to build his dream home for the family: a glass castle.

Brenda Wineapple is an American nonfiction writer, literary critic, and essayist who has written several books on nineteenth-century American writers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sy Montgomery</span> Naturalist, author and scriptwriter (born 1958)

Sy Montgomery is an American naturalist, author and scriptwriter who writes for children as well as adults.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saeed Jones</span> American poet

Saeed Jones is an American writer and poet. His debut collection Prelude to Bruise was named a 2014 finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry. His second book, a memoir, How We Fight for Our Lives won the Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction in 2019.

<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 was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ada Calhoun</span> American non-fiction author

Ada Calhoun is an American nonfiction writer. She is the author of St. Marks Is Dead, a history of St. Mark's Place in East Village, Manhattan, New York; Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give, a book of essays about marriage; Why We Can't Sleep, a book about Generation X women and their struggles, and Also a Poet, a memoir about her father and the poet Frank O’Hara. She has also been a critic, frequently contributing to The New York Times Book Review; a co-author and ghostwriter, having collaborated on three books by Tim Gunn; and a freelance essayist and reporter. A Village Voice profile in 2015 said: "Her CV can seem as though it were cobbled together from the résumés of three ambitious journalists."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D. Watkins</span> American author and professor

Dwight "D." or "Doc" Watkins is an author, HBO writer, and lecturer at The University of Baltimore.

<i>The Return</i> (memoir) 2016 memoir by Hisham Matar

The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between is a memoir by Hisham Matar that was first published in June 2016. The memoir centers on Matar's return to his native Libya in 2012 to search for the truth behind the 1990 disappearance of his father, a prominent political dissident of the Gaddafi regime. It won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, the inaugural 2017 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award and the 2017 Folio Prize, becoming the first nonfiction book to do so.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lacy M. Johnson</span> American writer, professor and activist

Lacy M. Johnson is an American writer, professor and activist. She is the author of Trespasses: A Memoir, The Other Side: A Memoir and The Reckonings: Essays.

<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.

C. Morgan Babst is an American writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah M. Broom</span> American writer

Sarah Monique Broom is an American writer. Her first book, The Yellow House (2019), received the National Book Award for Nonfiction.

<i>Blowout</i> (book) 2019 non-fiction book by Rachel Maddow

Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth is a 2019 non-fiction book by Rachel Maddow. It is her second book and was published by Crown on October 1, 2019. It concerns corruption in the oil and gas industry and the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.

<i>In the Dream House</i> 2019 memoir by Carmen Maria Machado

In the Dream House is a memoir by Carmen Maria Machado. It was published on November 5, 2019, by Graywolf Press.

<i>Untamed</i> (memoir) 2020 memoir by Glennon Doyle

Untamed is a 2020 memoir by Glennon Doyle. It was published by The Dial Press on March 10, 2020. It is her third memoir following her works Love Warrior and Carry on, Warrior.

<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.

<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>Punch Me Up to the Gods</i> 2021 memoir by Brian Broome

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), as well as the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Memoir or Biography (2022).

Jerald Walker is an American writer and professor of creative writing and African American literature at Emerson College.

References

  1. 1 2 The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom. Grove Atlantic . Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  2. Broom, Sarah M. (August 17, 2015). "The Yellow House". The New Yorker . Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  3. "Hardcover Nonfiction Books - Best Sellers". The New York Times . September 1, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  4. Garner, Dwight (August 5, 2019). "'The Yellow House' Is a Major Memoir About a Large Family and Its Beloved Home". The New York Times . Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  5. Flournoy, Angela (August 9, 2019). "After Hurricane Katrina, How Do You Return Home When Home No Longer Exists?". The New York Times Book Review . Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  6. Gibney, Shannon (August 9, 2019). "Review: 'The Yellow House,' by Sarah Broom". Star Tribune . Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  7. "Nonfiction Book Review: The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom". Publishers Weekly . April 26, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  8. 1 2 "The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom". Kirkus Reviews . April 23, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  9. "National Book Awards 2019". National Book Foundation . Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  10. Italie, Hillel (November 20, 2019). "Susan Choi, Sarah M. Broom win National Book Awards". Associated Press . Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  11. Malone Kircher, Madison (November 21, 2019). "Sarah M. Broom's National Book Award Speech Will Make You Want to Call Your Mom". Vulture . New York . Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  12. "New Orleans author Sarah Broom wins National Book Award for memoir 'The Yellow House'". NOLA.com . November 21, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  13. Wappler, Margaret (November 20, 2019). "Susan Choi and Sarah M. Broom win National Book Awards". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  14. "The 10 Best Books of 2019". The New York Times . November 22, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  15. "Best Books of 2019". The Washington Post . November 21, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  16. "Announcing the finalists for the 2019 NBCC Awards". 12 January 2020.