Prizes

• Winner of the 2021 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction

• Finalist for 2022 Lambda Literary Award in Gay Memoir/Biography

• 2022 Stonewall Honor Book

Accolades

• New York Times Notable Book for 2021

• New York Times Editors Pick

• Amazon Best Book of 2021

• Kirkus Reviews Best of 2021

• Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2021

• Apple Books Best Book of 2021

• Today Show Summer Reading List Pick

• Entertainment Weekly Best Debut of Summer Pick

• People Best Book of Summer Pick

• One of Lithub's Most Anticipated Books of 2021

• One of BuzzFeed's 75 Books to Add to Your 2021 TBR List

• One of The Temper's 12 Recovery Memoirs You Need to Read

• One of BookRiot's 6 Stunning LBGTQ+ Books from Debut Authors to Read in 2021

• One of Bustle's 51 Best Debuts for Spring

• One of Beyond the Bookends' 75 Books for Spring

• One of Shondaland’s 5 Best Books for May

• One of Chicago Review of Books’ 12 Must Read Books for May One

• One of Saturday Evening Post's 10 Books to Enjoy This Spring

A poetic and raw coming-of-age memoir in essays about blackness, masculinity, and addiction, Punch Me Up to the Gods: A Memoir 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. Brian’s recounting of his experiences—in all their cringe-worthy, hilarious, and heartbreaking glory—reveal 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 misfit’s origin story. But it is Brian’s 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 Brooks’s 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. Broome’s writing brims with swagger and sensitivity, bringing an exquisite and fresh voice to ongoing cultural conversations about Blackness in America.