{"product_id":"how-we-fight-for-our-lives-a-memoir-9781501132742","title":"How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWritten from the crossroads of sex, race, and power in America, \u003ci\u003eHow We Fight for Our Lives \u003c\/i\u003eis a stunning coming-of-age memoir.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom award-winning poet Saeed Jones, \u003ci\u003eHow We Fight for Our Lives\u003c\/i\u003e—winner of the Kirkus Prize and the Stonewall Book Award—is a “moving, bracingly honest memoir” (\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e) written at the crossroads of sex, race, and power.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of the best books of the year as selected by \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e; NPR; \u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eO, The Oprah Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eHarper’s Bazaar\u003c\/i\u003e;\u003ci\u003e Elle\u003c\/i\u003e;\u003ci\u003e BuzzFeed\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eGoodreads\u003c\/i\u003e; and many more.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“People don’t just happen,” writes Saeed Jones. “We sacrifice former versions of ourselves. We sacrifice the people who dared to raise us. The ‘I’ it seems doesn’t exist until we are able to say, ‘I am no longer yours.’”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eHaunted and haunting, \u003ci\u003eHow We Fight for Our Lives \u003c\/i\u003eis a stunning coming-of-age memoir about 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 family, 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 \u003ci\u003efor\u003c\/i\u003e one another—and \u003ci\u003eto\u003c\/i\u003e one another—as we fight to become ourselves.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eAn award-winning poet, Jones has developed a style that’s as beautiful as it is powerful—a voice that’s by turns a river, a blues, and a nightscape set ablaze. \u003ci\u003eHow We Fight for Our Lives\u003c\/i\u003e is a one-of-a-kind memoir and a book that cements Saeed Jones as an essential writer for our time.\u003ch4\u003eDetails\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eISBN13: 9781501132742\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNumber of Pages: 224\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdition: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication Date: 05 Aug 2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublisher: Simon \u0026amp; Schuster\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication City, Country: New York, United States\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDimensions (cm): 20.3(H)x13.3(L)x1.8(W)163\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWeight (gm): 163\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h4\u003eSaeed Jones is the author of \u003ci\u003ePrelude to Bruise\u003c\/i\u003e, winner of the 2015 PEN\/Joyce Osterweil Award for Poetry and the 2015 Stonewall Book Award\/Barbara Gittings Literature Award. The poetry collection was also a finalist for the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award, as well as awards from Lambda Literary and the Publishing Triangle in 2015. Jones was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and grew up in Lewisville, Texas. He earned a BA at Western Kentucky University and an MFA at Rutgers University-Newark. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, and is on Bluesky @TheFerocity. \u003ch4\u003eReviews\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cb\u003ePRAISE FOR \u003ci\u003eHOW WE FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES\u003c\/i\u003e BY SAEED JONES\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “[A] devastating memoir….Jones is fascinated by power (who has it, how and why we deploy it), but he seems equally interested in tenderness and frailty. We wound and save one another, we try our best, we leave too much unsaid….A moving, bracingly honest memoir that reads like fevered poetry.”—\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHE \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e\"\u003c\/i\u003eA raw and eloquent memoir. One could say that Saeed Jones' new memoir, \u003ci\u003eHow We Fight for Our Lives\u003c\/i\u003e, is a classic coming-of-age story….But Jones' voice and sensibility are so distinct that he turns one of the oldest of literary genres inside out and upside down. \u003ci\u003eHow We Fight for Our Lives\u003c\/i\u003e is at once explicitly raunchy, mean, nuanced, loving and melancholy. It's sometimes hard to read and harder to put down.\" \u003ci\u003e—\u003cb\u003eMAUREEN CORRIGAN, NPR'S \"FRESH AIR\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"Extremely personal, emotionally gritty, and unabashedly honest\u003ci\u003e, How We Fight for Our Lives \u003c\/i\u003eis an outstanding memoir that somehow manages a perfect balance between love and violence, hope and hostility, transformation and resentment.....Jones writes with the confidence of a veteran novelist and the flare of an accomplished poet. This is an important coming-of-age story that's also a collection of tiny but significant joys. More importantly, it's a narrative that cements Jones as a new literary star — and a book that will give many an injection of hope.\"\u003ci\u003e—\u003cb\u003eNPR\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “Urgent, immediate, matter of fact….The prose in Saeed Jones’s memoir \u003ci\u003eHow We Fight for Our Lives\u003c\/i\u003e shines with a poet’s desire to give intellections the force of sense impressions.”\u003ci\u003e—\u003cb\u003eTHE NEW YORKER \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"Jones’ explosive and poetic memoir traces his coming-of-age as a black, queer, and Southern man in vignettes that heartbreakingly and rigorously explore the beauty of love, the weight of trauma, and the power of resilience.\"\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \"[Jones'] tenacious honesty compels us to be honest with ourselves. His experiences—negotiating grief, family dynamics, and a forthright identity—require our reckoning.\"\u003cb\u003e—KIRKUS PRIZE 2019 CITATION\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “[This] memoir marks the emergence of a major literary voice…written with masterful control of both style and material.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eKIRKUS REVIEWS \u003c\/i\u003e(STARRED REVIEW)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “Powerful…Jones is a remarkable, unflinching storyteller, and his book is a rewarding page-turner.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePUBLISHERS WEEKLY \u003c\/i\u003e(STARRED REVIEW)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"An unforgettable memoir that pulls you in and doesn’t let go until the very last page.\"\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eLIBRARY JOURNAL \u003c\/i\u003e(STARRED REVIEW)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"A luminous, clear-eyed excavation of how we learn to define ourselves, “How We Fight for Our Lives” is both a coming-of-age story and a rumination on love and loss....a radiant memoir that meditates on the many ways we belong to each other and the many ways we are released.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"There are moments of devastating ugliness and moments of ecstatic joy...infused with an emotional energy that only authenticity can provide.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"Phenomenal....In this profound, concise memoir, the 33-year-old writer isolates key moments from his youth and sharpens their points for maximum effect. We follow a young, searching Jones through his early years with his loving single mother, along a path of unrequited lust, furtive sexual experiences, and disapproving relatives, through his hard-won self-acceptance and into the grief of losing the person closest to him.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eINTERVIEW MAGAZINE\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"Jones’ evocative prose has a layered effect, immersing readers in his state of mind, where gorgeous turns of phrase create some distance from his more painful memories. Although its length is short (just 189 pages), H\u003ci\u003eow We Fight For Our Lives\u003c\/i\u003e fairly pulses with pain and potency; there is enough turmoil and poetry and determination in it to fill whole bookshelves.\"—\u003cb\u003eTHE AV CLUB\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"\u003ci\u003eHow We Fight for Our Lives\u003c\/i\u003e is a primer in how to keep kicking, in how to stay afloat...Thank god we get to be part of that world with Saeed Jones’ writing in it.\"—\u003cb\u003eLAMBDA LITERARY\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"Jones' unabashed honesty and gift for self-aware humor will resonate with readers, especially those in search of a story that resembles their own.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eBOOKLIST\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “Scorching…a commentary not only on what it takes to become truly and wholly oneself, but on race and LGBTQ identity, power and vulnerability, and how relationships can make and break us along the way.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eGOOD HOUSEKEEPING \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “This memoir is a rhapsody in the truest sense of the word, fragments of epic poetry woven together so skillfully, so tenderly, so brutally, that you will find yourself aching in the way only masterful writing can make a person ache. \u003ci\u003eHow We Fight for Our Lives\u003c\/i\u003e is that rare book that will show you what it means to be needful, to be strong, to be gloriously human and fighting for your life.”\u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003eROXANE GAY, author of \u003ci\u003eHunger\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “This book. Oh my goodness. It is everything everyone needs right now—both love song and battle cry, brilliant as fuck and at times, heartbreaking as hell. Every single living half-grown and grownup body needs to read this book. I’m shook. I’m changed.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—JACQUELINE WOODSON, author of \u003ci\u003eAnother Brooklyn\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “There will be little left to say, and so much left to make after the world experiences Saeed Jones's \u003ci\u003eHow We Fight for Our Lives\u003c\/i\u003e. This is that rare piece of literary art that teaches us how to read and write on every page. It's so black. So queer. So subtextual, and amazingly so sincere. Saeed changes everything we thought we knew about memoir writing, narrative structure, and heart meat. All three are obliterated. All three are tended to over and over again. All three will never ever be the same after this book. It's really that good.”\u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003eKIESE LAYMON, author of \u003ci\u003eHeavy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Saeed Jones","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48752444965081,"sku":"9781501132742","price":26.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0502\/9530\/8441\/files\/71uYMTOa7FL._SL1500_035879fe-bcef-4258-abb3-485591a22e4f.jpg?v=1779889626","url":"https:\/\/www.arielbooks.com.au\/products\/how-we-fight-for-our-lives-a-memoir-9781501132742","provider":"Ariel","version":"1.0","type":"link"}