Secure Punch Me Up To The Gods Conceived By Brian Broome Readable In Paperback

Punch My Up to the Gods, Brian Broome explores the pressures that Black men face to perform a certain kind of masculinityone that he found particularly damaging as a Black, gay boy growing up in rural Ohio.
In a series of stories organized by theme around Gwendolyn Brooks' poem "We Real Cool," Broome reflects on the way these requirements to "be a man" damaged his relationship with his family, complicated his efforts to find queer community, and resulted in longterm struggles with anxiety and addiction.


I found Broome's efforts to untangle his challenging memories of his mother and father especially poignant and profound throughout the book, he traces how their fear of the real and everpresent danger he would face as a Black man growing up in America led them to police his gender identity and sexuality in harsh and sometimes violent ways.
Broome's thoughtful exploration of the fraught relationship between love and control is an important reminder of the way that American racism requires Black parents to make impossible decisions to try to keep their children safe.


While I appreciated some of the fruitful juxtapositions offered by Broome's thematic narrative structure, without clear forward momentum the chapters sometimes fell into a bleak pattern of hope, humiliation, then defeat.
Punch Me Up to the Gods reads a little like spying on confessional, and though it's evident by the end of the memoir that Broome finds in the sum of his experiences a clearer understanding of both himself and America, I needed a stronger connective thread to the realizations that define the final chapter.
Nevertheless, Broome's story is an important one, I'm grateful that he shared it, Wow. I mean, WOW.

This is an incredible memoir, Beautifully written, and it will rip your guys right out, You'll be glad about it,

I have been lucky enough to see Brian at The Moth and other venues some Pittsburgh, and he is a brilliant storyteller.
The audiobook is amazing. He reads most of it with a great introduction from Yona Harvey, and Robyn Miles one of my favorite readers reading a chapter told in his mother's voice.


This book should be on your toread list if it isn't already, Punch Me Up to the Gods introduces a powerful new talent in Brian Broome, whose early years growing up in Ohio as a darkskinned Black boy harboring crushes on other boys propel forward this gorgeous, aching, and unforgettable debut.
Brians recounting of his experiencesin all their cringeworthy, 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 nononsense 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.
I knew very little about this story before starting, I liked the cover, the title and found the topic interesting so I'd just jumped right in, I liked the short story style the stories lead in to each other just slightly but the story flowed really well as the MC aged and went through a lot of self discovery.


Some stories were really hard to read, broke my heart but there were also some that made me smile.
The few chapters that were from a different POV were my least favorite as I really enjoyed the main storyteller and wanted to know more about his journey.
I really appreciated this one and am so glad I gave it a try!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an eARC via Netgalley.
This does not affect my opinion regarding the book, .

Black life in America doesnt seem to allow for it, As a race, we are often admired for how “strong” we are and for how

much we have endured, The truth is that we are no stronger than anyone else, We have endured, but we are only human, It is the expectation of strength, and the constant requirement to summon it, fake it, or die, that is erosive and leads to our emotional undoing.




Punch Me Up to the Gods knocked me flat, If you are white and queer, read this book, Hell, anyone and everyone should read Brian Broome's stunning memoir,

This memoir is narratively unique, While presentday Brian rides on a bus heading to the airport, and observes a Black father and son interacting during the commute, he reminisces on his childhood, upbringing, trauma, and adulthood as a Black, gay man.
This, therefore, is not a linear narrative of Brian's life, Brian's memoir is framed around Gwendolyn Brookss poem “We Real Cool,” and is a heartbreaking ballad to Black gay boys everywhere.


Brian does not shy away from horribly awful truths in this book, His childhood was rampant with abuse, bullying, and loneliness, and his father beat into him early on that boys should not show weakness that Black boys should mold themselves into the ideal form of "manhood.
" Boys should not cry. Boys should not like girly things, And if Brian was not masculine enough, or acted too "gay," his father would beat him viciously for it, What's even more devastating is that Brian's father framed this unrelenting violence as an act of protection against white supremacy,



“My father back then believed in beating Black boys the way Black boys are supposed to be beaten.
For our own good, he would say, Meant to toughen us up for a world where white people feed off our pain and to teach us that we cannot give them the satisfaction.
Any Black boy who did not signify how manly he was at all times deserved to be punched back up to God to be remade, reshaped.
”



The traumas of Brian's childhood led to a tumultuous young adulthood, full of drugs, alcohol, excessive partying, and loneliness.
I so completely admired Brian's honesty in his depiction of himself he's not afraid to portray himself in an unflattering, painful light.
. Through poetic, gorgeous writing and achingly raw storytelling, Brian weaves an emotionally resonant tapestry of a narrative, He discusses toxic masculinity, drug abuse, trauma, homophobia, the alienation of white queer spaces, and racism with a deft hand, and even though his story is so sad, I felt hopeful in the end.
Not just hopeful for Brian, but also for other Black gay boys who read this book, Hopefully they'll read Brian's story, and know that they're not alone, That they're allowed to be open about their feelings, pasts, and identities,

A truly special memoir, Again, I implore all of you to read it, and I was especially moved by the chapter written from Brian's mother's perspective.
I was such a weepy mess, What a gorgeous, important book,



“I used to believe that the space I occupied was conditional, That I had to please anyone and everyone around me in order to exist because I had made the horrible mistake of being different.
” A wellwritten memoir about growing up as a gay Black boy in Ohio and then as a young gay Black man in Pennsylvania.
I loved the visceral quality of Brian Broomes writing especially in the first half of the book his feelings of longing, shame, and confusion came alive through his use of descriptive yet tight prose.
A lot of his story centers on the femmephobic and homophobic abuse and bullying he experienced by members of his family and his peer group.
Im not sure how anyone could read this memoir without walking away with the message that we need to destroy toxic masculinity and white supremacy and embrace our children and one another for who we are.


I wanted a couple elements of Broomes internalized bigotry unpacked more, First, he writes quite a bit about how he found white men particularly attractive, He states this preference several times though I wish he had unpacked it more explicitly what specific channels did he learn this from, so that we can target those and dismantle them Later on in the memoir he writes a bit about unlearning this racialized preference, though I wanted to read more about that process, especially because he still comments on certain white mens pale skin and blue eyes as particularly attractive which made me go uh This concern of mine relates to a later scene in which he shares some of his ageist views about older queer men he sees at a bar/club, where an older man calls him out on his ageism.
While Broome writes the scene in a way that implies that he recognizes his ageism as problematic, I wanted a more thorough investigation of that internalized oppression.
On a note unrelated to the internalized bigotry, I also found the part later in the memoir where he transitioned to writing from the perspective of his mother a bit jarring.


Despite some of my criticisms I would still recommend this memoir to those interested in its synopsis! I feel so happy that Broome continues to write and express himself in such poetic ways especially given all the messages he received growing up to be tough, stoic, and unfeeling.
This is definitely one of the best memoirs I've read in ages!

There is much to admire here, The book is cleverly constructed, framed around a Gwendolyn Brooks poem, and watching a father and a young son on the busthe father telling the toddler not to cry, to be a man.
This framing device very subtly and effectively introduces and reinforces the material from Broome's own story, and how his father and other males policed and sought to enforce concepts of masculinity.


There is one chapter in what is supposed to be in the voice of Broome's mother I appreciated the information provided here more than the way it was presented.


I've still not read the introduction to this book, because I have long since learned to avoid introductions for fear of spoilers.
And now that I've finished reading the book myself, why do I need an introduction

A splendid book, brave and evocative.
I found myself remembering things from my own childhood, The takeaway is this: that we all have to give ourselves permission to exist in our skin, permission to take up space in the world, to be ourselves.
Finding that sweet simplicity is a journey, and Broome very generously has shown us his, Thanks! Whew! Some people will say it's not written like a traditional memoir and I couldn't agree more, I loved the way the author experimented with form and structure, The story is one that I will sit with for a long time, The memories he went through and his struggle with being a black gay man in America are intertwined into a story that should be read by everyone.
After reading this I just want to protect him and my students who can identify with his struggles forever,

I also commend him for sharing his life no hold bars with us all, I can only imagine how hard it was to put this on paper, .