How we fight for our lives : a memoir

by Saeed Jones

Paper Book, 2019

Status

Available

Genres

LGBTQ+

Biography & Memoir

Biography

Publication

New York : Simon & Schuster, 2019.

Description

Haunted and haunting, Jones's memoir tells the story of a young, black, gay man from the South as he fights to carve out a place for himself, within his family, within his country, within his own hopes, desires, and fears. Through a series of vignettes that chart a course across the American landscape, Jones draws readers into his boyhood and adolescence--into tumultuous relationships with his mother and grandmother, into passing flings with lovers, friends and strangers. Each piece builds into a larger examination of race and queerness, power and vulnerability, love and grief: a portrait of what we all do for one another--and to one another--as we fight to become ourselves.

User reviews

LibraryThing member ozzer

"Being black can get you killed
Being gay can get you killed
Being a black gay boy is a death wish"

So Saeed Jones understands the challenges he faces as a young man. This memoir follows his evolution into adulthood coming to terms with his sexuality, race, and especially the troubled relationship

with his mother. The memoir captures the extreme risks he takes to explore his sexuality. One wonders why he didn't find more satisfying partners as a young man and only hopes that this will eventually happen for him. His relationship with his mother is especially poignant as it evokes the all too common black mother struggling to raise and protect her children alone in a world that views them with hostility. Only after her death does he come to appreciate her importance to his development. Meeting the old woman in Barcelona is a powerful metaphor for his relationship with his mother. Memoirs written by young people can be unsatisfying reads because of the lack of a wider life experience. Certainly, this seems to be a problem here, but Saeed copes remarkably well.

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LibraryThing member alliepascal

This is the only kind of memoir I want to read; it's short, it's focused and to the point, and it's excellently written.

LibraryThing member bostonbibliophile

What can I say that hasn't already been said? It's lovely. The last chapter is one of the loveliest tributes I've read to a beloved mother. It reads both as a collection of essays and an eloquent whole. It is very personal and intimate and reaches out at the same time. Jones has written a lovely

treasure of a book.

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LibraryThing member Smokler

Feels like the nephew of "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" and Frank Conroy's "Stop Time" I friggin loved it.

LibraryThing member imjustmea

Heartbreaking and uplifting. A coming-of-age story and a portrait of filial love.

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