num_pages: 250
description: 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 harboring crushes on other boys propel forward this gorgeous aching and unforgettable debut. Brians recounting of his experiencesin all their cringe-worthy hilarious and heartbreaking gloryreveal 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 misfits origin story. But it is Brians voice in the retelling that shows the true depth of vulnerability for young Black boys that is often quietly near to bursting at the seams.Cleverly framed around Gwendolyn Brookss poem We Real Cool the iconic and loving ode to Black boyhood Punch Me Up to the Gods is at once playful poignant and wholly original. Broomes writing brims with swagger and sensitivity bringing an exquisite and fresh voice to ongoing cultural conversations about Blackness in America.
language: English
title: Punch Me Up to the Gods
publisher: Mariner Books