{"product_id":"9780374538989","title":"100 Boyfriends","description":"\u003cstrong\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Brontez Purnell\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review \u003c\/i\u003eEditors' Choice. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"This hurricane of delirious, lonely, lewd tales is a taxonomy and grand unified theory of the boyfriend, in every tense.\" --Parul Sehgal, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I loved this book--raunchy, irreverent, deliberate, sexy, angry, and tender, in its own way.\" --Roxane Gay\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn irrerverent, sensitive, and inimitable look at gay dysfunction through the eyes of a cult hero\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eTransgressive, foulmouthed, and brutally funny, Brontez Purnell’s \u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/i\u003e is a revelatory spiral into the imperfect lives of queer men desperately fighting the urge to self-sabotage. As they tiptoe through minefields of romantic, substance-fueled misadventure—from dirty warehouses and gentrified bars in Oakland to desolate farm towns in Alabama—Purnell’s characters strive for belonging in a world that dismisses them for being Black, broke, and queer. In spite of it—or perhaps because of it—they shine.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eArmed with a deadpan wit, Purnell finds humor in even the darkest of nadirs with the peerless zeal, insight, and horniness of a gay punk messiah. Together, the slice-of-life tales that writhe within \u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/i\u003e are an inimitable tour of an unexposed queer underbelly. Holding them together is the vision of an iconoclastic storyteller, as fearless as he is human.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This hurricane of delirious, lonely, lewd tales is a taxonomy and grand unified theory of the boyfriend, in every tense . . . Paragraphs run quick and cool, like stacked ice cubes . . . [a] feeling of eternal recurrence is beautifully by design, it is the very argument of the book . . . All these desires, these imperatives, lodge themselves into that little word 'boyfriend,' into fantasies of men past and present, into those ghosts, who prove so necessary.\" --\u003cb\u003eParul Sehgal, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003e1\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e00 Boyfriends \u003c\/i\u003eis a collection of short stories so wrigglingly alive and counterculturally refreshing that it deserves a new noun — a pod of whales, a murder of crows, a jubilee of Brontez Purnell stories? I’d wager that he sets down the best first lines of any living writer.\"  \u003cb\u003e—Molly Young, \u003ci\u003eVulture\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I loved this book--raunchy, irreverent, deliberate, sexy, angry, and tender, in its own way. There is a matter of factness tone that I really loved. Also, listen. The men in these stories have a lot of sex. Like, logistically, the chafing alone! Bless their hearts. V v v great book. Will definitely be reading this one again.\" --\u003cb\u003eRoxane Gay (via Goodreads)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Brontez Purnell is a tireless creative force . . . At times reminiscent of the work of Eve Babitz, \u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/i\u003e is simultaneously tough and vulnerable, bawdy and knowing, and relayed with a deceptive ease.\" --\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe A.V. Club\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Purnell performs one of those rare literary magic tricks: He presents the reader with types only to later reveal the humanity underneath the stereotype. Moreover, his uncompromising portraits broaden the literary scope of queer male desire and love. The men in \u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/i\u003e are glimpses, fractions, and lost — but they remain fully alive.\" --\u003cb\u003eAlex McElroy, \u003ci\u003eBuzzfeed\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"No one can write and tell a story like Brontez Purnell. This is a fact. I laughed, I cried, I winced, I gagged. I texted my friends whole pictures of pages while reading \u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends . . . \u003c\/i\u003eEvery sentence in \u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/i\u003e made me giddy; Brontez Purnell writes about everything that goes on in your head before, during, and after sex with a wit and clarity that has become the hallmark of his work.\" --\u003cb\u003eJeffrey Masters, \u003ci\u003eThe Advocate\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A hilarious, non-stop series of boyfriends past, united by candid takes on love, sex, and more sex . . . Purnell finds the beauty and dignity in every ex.\" --\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGQ\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"[\u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/i\u003e] reads like a series of 4 a.m. text messages received from a very smart and very messy friend — when there’s no way you can wait till morning to respond, 'What the fuck? Are you OK? Did you at least have fun?' If Purnell is a living archive of the Bay’s queer and punk scenes in last two decades, \u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends \u003c\/i\u003eis an autofiction anthology of drug-fueled warehouse dwellers, queer skate kids, and regretless heartbreakers.\" --\u003cb\u003eSaam Niami, \u003ci\u003eVulture\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Purnell provides a taxonomy of each city’s legion lonely and their disparate, gentrifying haunts, a history of people and their places . . . They are about race in the way that everything is about race, but they are also performances of technical virtuosity, formal experimentation, and mastery rarely acknowledged in Black writers, whose primary function—that of teacher—is presumed to be at the level of content, not style. They play with and resist autobiography, enlivened by Purnell’s marvelous ear for Black vernacular and his finely meted candor.\" --\u003cb\u003eJasmine Sanders, \u003ci\u003eBookforum\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A tour de force of profanity and defiance, with unexpected turns of tenderness and grace. The collection of short stories, sharp portraits of crushes and exes, and coming of age essays is a rip-roaring, unputdownable trip down memory lane that will give you all the feels, and occasionally turn you on. In other words, the perfect beach read.\"—\u003cb\u003eErik Maza, \u003ci\u003eTown \u0026amp; Country\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Each tale is a tour de force of storytelling on its own; together, the collection transcends the considerable sum of its parts.\" --\u003cb\u003eKeely Weiss, \u003ci\u003eHarper's Bazaar\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A foul-mouthed twist on short fiction that draws on zines, critical theory, and pornography . . . The coming-out narrative has grown staid, and queer readers are hungry for a forthright rejection of respectability politics that captures the gritty, authentic sensibility that Purnell brings to life on the page.\" --\u003cb\u003eQuinn Roberts, \u003ci\u003eInterview\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/i\u003e, with its meticulous attention to the sights, smells, textures, glories, and terrors of queer sex, continues the divine smuttiness of Purnell’s earlier writings . . . as you drift between characters, points of view, and even literary forms, reading \u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/i\u003e comes about as close as any literary experience can to one of the book’s primary subjects: cruising.\" --\u003cb\u003eWren Sanders, \u003ci\u003ethem.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"An astonishing collection of short stories that explore the varied experiences of Black queer men with a unique mix of electrifying humor and aching humanity. Expect to devour this one in a single sitting — it's just that good.\" --\u003cb\u003eSabienna Bowman, \u003ci\u003ePopSugar\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Transgressive, hilarious, and lewd in all the best ways . . . This short story collection is glorious in its messiness, splattering desire, loneliness, and desperation onto a canvas of vulnerability. Dispatched from the queer nadirs, it is, above all else, an irreverent gift.\" --\u003cb\u003eGreg Mania, \u003ci\u003eElectric Literature\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The language is visceral and kinetic; a warm, inviting chaos that holds plenty of insight into heartache and lust . . . Every movement needs a manifesto, a call-to-action and instruction on how to enact a revolutionary ideology—with its seductively energetic prose and well-rendered odes to raw physicality and joyful spontaneity, \u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/i\u003e is a guide to celebrating one’s voice.\" --\u003cb\u003eDaniel Spielberger, \u003ci\u003eSSENSE\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Intimate yet hilarious . . . Brontez delves into the darkest corners of queer identity and exposes the frenzied and compassionate relationships ingrained in LGBT+ culture.\" --\u003cb\u003eBella Morais, \u003ci\u003eThe Root\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Few contemporary writers have the guts to write like Purnell \u003ci\u003e. . . \u003c\/i\u003ePurnell’s irreverent voice and meandering structure points to new possibilities for queer writers and readers. It shouldn’t be lost on readers that while Purnell’s writing is funny, it is also startlingly intimate.\" --\u003cb\u003eGarrett Biggs, \u003ci\u003eChicago Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Starting with the epigraph, 'Fuck All Y’all,' the book proceeds from that slap to a readerly seduction, sharing with abandon the narrators’ most intimate loves, hates, disappointments and excitements. If \u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/i\u003e reads at first glance as a procession of hangovers and unruly lovers, its structure is, in fact, a provocation. There are few narrative possibilities afforded to queer Black men 'out there' and, in this way, the book thwarts those clichés head on, simultaneously throwing the reader into a quickie frisson while letting them dangle in the actual uncertainty and exhaustion of these moments.\" --\u003cb\u003eSavannah Knoop, \u003ci\u003eCultured Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"[Purnell] is a master of a variety of prose registers: sassy, lyrical, angry, raunchy, tender. And uproariously funny . . . Purnell has a talent for rolling exuberance, jaded braggadocio, and bawdy hilarity all into one knock-out punch of a sentence . . . In this pinball machine of a book, there's hardly a sentence that doesn't ricochet, bounce, careen, and slam its way right to the mark.\" --\u003cb\u003ePhilip Gambone, \u003ci\u003eThe Gay \u0026amp; Lesbian Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Small but well-endowed — size queens, this one’s for you — \u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends \u003c\/i\u003eis a treasury of thrills and mortifications from the heart of a fucked-up yet lovable Black gay loner whose quests for closeness and closure bring clarity and calm. I saw my reflection in the dirty mirror that is these stories, a person to love and an asylum to call home.\" --\u003cb\u003eParis Close, \u003ci\u003ePaperback Paris\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"\u003c\/i\u003eThis collection of short stories by the renowned Oakland-based writer, musician, director and dancer will have you laugh, cry and think about life all in a single sitting.\" --\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTimeOut\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Bright and piercing as a tattoo . . . a book that celebrates living at the edges of society so beautifully . . . Purnell’s stories are fleeting, or they are lingering; they are slutty and heartbreaking. But they’re all perfectly poised to stamp into your brain, spreading filth like seeds and delighting in the bewitching rewards.\" --\u003cb\u003eKirstyn Smith, \u003ci\u003eThe Skinny \u003c\/i\u003e(UK)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This stunning collection of vignettes from artist, punk rocker, and Whiting Award winner Purnell forms a delightfully crass, kaleidoscopic worldview. Each story introduces new heartbreaks and reminders that moments of intimacy often end in loneliness . . .  Purnell brilliantly immerses the reader in Black, queer desire with humor, self-awareness, and just the right amount of vulgarity.\" \u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"American literature has been a bit too polite for the past few decades. Gone are the thrilling and seedy transgressions of a William S. Burroughs or a “J.T. LeRoy.” Brontez Purnell’s \u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/i\u003e rectifies that in its tales about nymphomaniac men looking for transcendence in a fuck.\" --\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Millions\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Brontez Purnell’s \u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/i\u003e is a symphony of sex, trouble and wisdom—as if the composer had sex with each member of the orchestra by way of getting it right. An electric prismatic genre-defying punk literary flight, Purnell is twirling here— I loved every page.\"\u003cb\u003e --Alexander Chee, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eHow to Write an Autobiographical Novel\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Each story in \u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/i\u003e is a minor eclipse: stunning in scope, technically blinding, and entirely miraculous. I laughed and I cried and I laughed until I cried?Brontez Purnell is a marvel.\"\u003cb\u003e --Bryan Washington, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eMemorial\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"In the vast history of the universe there is only one Brontez Purnell, and thank god we get him. From cruising to crushes, cumming to closure, \u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/i\u003e is a mandatory read for the funny-sexy lit freaks among us—a candy box of Euro boys and Daddies, blue pills and satanic exes—all told in an addictively-delicious voice by a writer who is somehow both wildly cool and deprecatingly humble at the same time.\" \u003cb\u003e--Melissa Broder, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Pisces\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSo Sad Today\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Brontez Purnell has such seemingly casual genius that at times you forget you're reading a book and are transported to some couch\/bus\/basement where the drugs are really good and your friend is really funny, maybe your weird closeted cousin is on HarlemHookups in the corner, and all of a sudden your friend says some fucking Sappho ass, weird ass, brilliant ass bullshit. I love this slut of a book, it’s a slut ass maker. \u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/i\u003e or no new boyfriends at all, Purnell’s autofiction\/memoir\/whatever the hell this marvelously sad and intoxicating book is shook me up good with its honesty and blunt-to-face endings, the jokes and stories I didn’t know we were allowed to tell outside of circles of faggots and misfits. But this book is in those circles, makes you tea and steals for you, it invites us in, but would we mind shutting the hell up cause it’s a little hungover? The light is coming through the windows so clear.\"  --\u003cb\u003eDanez Smith, author of \u003ci\u003eHomie\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“No one writes like Brontez Purnell. It’s not just that he is hilariously irreverent, which he is, but that he reserves reverence for that which is deserving. \u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/i\u003e is like a good lover, at turns vulgar and vulnerable, dirty and desperate, and always grinding toward magic.”  --\u003cb\u003eJustin Torres, author of \u003ci\u003eWe the Animals\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Scathingly lucid, filthily pure, this is the most astute, witty, acid-tongued and emotionally generous book about relationships—from one night stands to internet no-no’s to ill-conceived crushes to long-term loves, requited and otherwise—I’ve read. Painfully knowing yet never jaded, \u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends \u003c\/i\u003edissects, explodes, lambasts, and revels in the ugly beauty of imperfect intimacies with prose that consistently puts its finger on the bleeding pulse of contemporary desire. An unforgettable ode to the heart that beats inside every longing body.\" --\u003cb\u003eMaryse Meijer, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Seventh Mansion\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The stories in \u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/i\u003e took me on a journey: They made me laugh. They made me gasp. They made me feel. Brontez Purnell is a vibrant literary voice you won't soon forget. I love this book.\" --\u003cb\u003eDe'Shawn Charles Winslow, author of \u003ci\u003eIn West Mills\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Raging against the grain, \u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003ean enticing gem full of wit, surprises, and profundity\u003c\/b\u003e. The same paragraph will make you laugh, make you horny, then make you sad, then make you horny again, but this time with a deepened sense of purpose. \u003cb\u003eHighly recommended, especially if you're in a reading rut and you need to be slapped out of it.\u003c\/b\u003e\" \u003cb\u003e--Luis Correa, Avid Bookshop (Athens, GA) \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/i\u003e is very much sex, drugs, rock and roll. Each short segment, anywhere from 3-10 pages on average, is a quick glimpse into the lives of various (and often nameless) gay men just trying to climb through life, often getting laid and high in the process. While that may sound sparse, \u003cb\u003ePurnell truly has a way with prose-- Even singular paragraphs recalling past lovers have the power to make you step back, admiring how sometimes men can be summed up so precisely\u003c\/b\u003e. Pardon the intense alliteration, but Purnell's prose is truly praise-worthy and deserves to be explored. \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e100 Boyfriends\u003c\/i\u003e is jaw-dropping, humorously crude, and sexually, emotionally raw.\u003c\/b\u003e\" --\u003cb\u003eAndrew King, University Book Store (WA)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003cb\u003eNasty, raunch, gorgeous.\u003c\/b\u003e I get a secondhand thrill from his sexual exploits and am entranced with his running internal dialogue. Purnell writes for the old-school queer punks from the Bay that make it such a vibrant colorful community. \u003cb\u003eFun and funky. Dark and joyful.\u003c\/b\u003e\" \u003cb\u003e--Celeste Orlosky, Santa Cruz Bookshop\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"So much gay literary fiction is dark, lonely, shot through with trauma and unhappy endings. In 100 Boyfriends, Brontez Purnell's characters deal with these same things, as so many of us do--but they also highlight the absurdity and comedy of their utterly human lives. \u003cb\u003eIt's this balance of the light and shadow of life, of comedy and tragedy, that makes 100 Boyfriends a satisfying read\u003c\/b\u003e. This\u003cb\u003e utterly original book\u003c\/b\u003e throws caution and convention to the wind, blending half-page vignettes of individual boyfriends with full coming-of-age short stories. What ties these disparate tales together is Purnell's deep understanding of (occasionally shallow) characters and his ear for hilariously blunt and irreverent dialogue. \u003cb\u003eImagine a midpoint between David Sedaris and Ocean Vuong or Garth Greenwell, and you'll find this breath of fresh air.\" \u003c\/b\u003e-\u003cb\u003e-Rayne Stone, Rediscovered Bookshop (Boise, ID)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9780374538989\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"MCD x FSG Originals","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40765035643086,"sku":"9780374538989","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_92a845fa-c805-4129-96a3-5cf8bb25f3ba.jpg?v=1643186844","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9780374538989","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}