Wholly original and impressively written. A recommended purchase for collections where memoirs and novels in verse are popular.

I confess I am not the best person to assess this book because I do struggle with poetry, & this book is a "memoir in verse". It does exactly what it says in the tin: it's a collection of confessional poems. I do like Brontez Purnell though, dating way, way back to possibly the 90s? We're talking olden time zine days here.

My favorite piece in this book was the bitter, hilarious, contemplative one about getting into a throwdown at a lterary conference. When he says "10 Bridges I've Burnt," he's kind of really not joking, in that way only those of us who lay awake at night thinking about the fires we did not 100% intentionally mean to set but also don't regret can really understand.

He covers a lot of ground in this quick little book: writing for TV, jogging while Black, growing up in the South, the intersections of being Black & queer, watching the Bay Area gentrify, & this is honestly just scratching the surface. I know so many people who will go mad for this book, because their tolerance for poetry is a lot higher than mine is (can I blame having gone to creative writing school? I had to workshop so much terrible poetry, I was traumatized for life; so much of it involved dragons, you wouldn't believe--with that said, this book is certified dragon-free) & their thirst for gay shit cannot be quenched. If that is you, mark your calendar, Brontez Purnell has a special valentine coming your way in 2024.

(Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for the ARC!)

Ten Bridges I've Burnt by Brontez Purnell is a bold, honest, raw, engrossing, genre-bending memoir in verse about life at the intersection of queerness and Blackness. Through a series of linked poems, it tells a story of identity, love, loneliness, desire, resilience, and more. As a lover of hybrid nonfiction, the form was the greatest strength for me, though at times I found myself selfishly wanting more from some of the shorter pieces. The unique structure lends itself to lyrical and engaging fragmented storytelling—something that appealed to me when I first picked this one up. I look forward to purchasing it in February! Thank you to NetGalley, FSG, and MCD Books for allowing me to read this ARC! (Also, this cover design?? Amazing.)

I knew Purnell was originally a poet, but I will freely admit that I was surprised that he decided to do his memoir fully in poetic verse. He's got several turns of phrases and short slaps of poems here that I'm going to be coming back to for a long while, I think. Get this when it comes out this fall, you'll be in for a hell of a treat.

I love Brontez Purnell’s books and have read them all. When I saw there was a new one available I was excited. While this wasn’t a favorite book of his for me there were several great pieces within. The writing style took a bit of getting used to for me. Very quick and easy read. Overall recommended.

3.5 ⭐️
The idea of a memoir in verse sounded immediately intriguing especially when written by Brontez Purnell. While I am a bigger fan of 100 Boyfriends, this is an unconventional yet deeply personal reading experience with the witty humor and unashamed vulnerability that I loved about Purnell’s writing on first read. Thank you to NetGalley and FSG/MCD for the e-ARC!

3.5 stars rounded down~

sadly didn't love this despite really loving 100 boyfriends. maybe i just wasn't in the right headspace for it with this one. the writing style just felt like it was trying too hard (100 boyfriends did too but i enjoyed that about it), and was a lil all over the place at times ('genre-defying' can be fun but it's such a gamble). that said, i can appreciate how purnell isn't ever afraid to get unflinchingly real / raw / honest, however he may choose to do it. i feel like his voice is so incredibly unique and i'm glad he shares it, even if it doesn't always land for me

i never really know how to rate/judge poetry bc it’s not something i consume often, but reading Purnell’s is like reading a diary. i felt the emotion in his words, and although this is a really quick read, it evokes a lot of feelings.

Raw, direct, honest, hilarious, heartbreaking - so many words to describe Ten Bridges I've Burnt and the deep insight it gives into one of queerdom's most original and unflinching writers. The shorter poems are especially strong and while some of these observations might better suited for a more traditional memoir style, it never stops being engaging and intriguing and original.

I have said in the most matter-of-fact and least hyperbolic way that I think Brontez Purnell is the best writer of my generation and reading Ten Bridges I've Burnt only reinforces this. A new approach to form and the continuance of a keen awareness of all sorts of people and of self makes me happy to read his work and glad that I'm not in his crosshairs. Somehow reminds me of the very best of Cookie Mueller (this is a compliment) and the very best of Fran Lebowitz (but without the writer's block). I will have a worn copy of this after comes out for sure; thank you for the opportunity to read it ahead of publication.

A mix of longer, more narrative pieces, general observations and more tossed-off little bits stitched together to create a fairly cohesive sense of the poet/writer Brontez Purnell from childhood through the early aughts in Oakland and into the present as a TV writer. Many of these, particularly the shorter poems, seem best appreciated spoken aloud, whereas the longer poems would make worthwhile classroom reads. Worthwhile, quick read recommended for college libraries.

I picked up Ten Bridges I've Burnt looking for more of what Purnell delivered in 100 Boyfriends. The rawness is there, but the form (the restriction of making this verse) makes this one feel more labored and, I feel, less successful.

A long list of caveats: I had never read or even heard of Brontez Purnell before writing this book review. I am of a different skin color, a different culture, and a different generation. I grew up in a comfortable suburb instead of a big city. I don't particularly like marketing gimmicks like a memoir in verse, genre-defying verse, or being labeled the bard of the underloved and overlooked. And as someone who has been out and on the front lines of gay activism for over 45 years, it's hard for me to relate to quotes like the most high-risk homosexual behavior I engage in is simply existing because they make me feel like gay men don't have agency. We do.
On the other hand, the author and I have a few things in common. We are both gay men, and we both have body image issues, which is one of the things he writes about in his forthcoming book of poetry titled "Ten Bridges I've Burnt; A Memoir In Verse" (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux; 13 February 2024). It is a fairly quick read, and the longer poems seem like simple narratives with unique line spacing, and while interesting and for some no-holes-barred, not terribly groundbreaking in LGBTQ literature.
And then there are the shorter poems in the book, poems crafted like poems, each one more intimate and beautiful than the next. But I will come back to that.
Spending some time learning about who Brontez Purnell is was a bit of a wake-up call in the category of Why have I never heard of this guy? He is the author of several award-winning books, including 100 Boyfriends, which won a Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction. He is also a musician, dancer, and director who focuses much of his work on sex and sexuality. One of his first works was to create a zine called Fag School, and most recently he wrote a glowing review of The Little Mermaid, setting himself briefly outside the progressive canon while disguised as some of his best and funniest writing.
To be clear, just because I don't particularly like prose dressed in drag and made to look like poetry, doesn't mean you won't like it, constant reader. Especially Purnell's compelling personal story. But as you read through this memoir you will occasionally come to a short poem looking lonely on a much larger page, and your heart might just stop for a second. In Rage of Every Color, he writes 
you deliberately misinterpret me, like, constantly/see me only as the man/who represents/the ten bridges I've burnt/but not the hundred I've built. 
There are great lines in the longer poems too, that are both funny and gritty at the same time. From Newest Romantic: 
I am a beautiful man/I am only 40/I could be your new husband/but I'm overqualified for the job." 
His quick wit shows up in other poems, including my favorite, I Am Decided:
I said to my gay uncle, when I was twenty,/"the boys don't like me"/not even looking up/from the fried chicken he was breading for dinner/he said to me/"honey, go look outside that window there and on the sidewalk. You'll see that in San Francisco, even the trash gets picked up once a week."
Reading Brontez Purnell's new memoir, prose and poetry alike, was to experience a deep and abiding resilience. The strength of spirit wraps itself around you and doesn't let go, especially if the experiences are shared ones, as many of these were for me and will be to many gay men.
The last poem, titled Eulogy, demonstrates the kind of courage and self-awareness that it takes some of us a lifetime to achieve as gay men; when you learn more about him, you will see why Brontez Purnell, and his new memoir, are so remarkable:
the encyclopedia/of my scandals/and failures/will always be/a more substantial read/than the pamphlet of your success/I bet money, bitch/on who will ring immortal/I will echo with reverb.

I was hooked by the book's premise of a poetic memoir about ten instances where the narrator engaged in self-sabotage throughout his life. Unfortunately, the writing just wasn't good. This didn't need to be written as poetry and the form severely hindered the story being told. I found the reading experience to be severely underwhelming, borderline exhausting. Here are a few quotes throughout the work that show the level and quality of writing a reader can expect:

* "I see the Klansmen's hood, I can like, smell the cross burning"
* "I am a handsome Black man with a fat ass and a demonically expensive liberal arts education"
* "Every time I get my dick hard to masturbate the voice in my head is like 'Ew, this guy again?'"
* "I can be quite vexed about how much American audiences overestimate their grasp of plot those godless bitches are the WOOOOOOOOOORST"
* "Oh honey, you can hate me to yr heart's content until yr heart is content"
* "I have reached deep inside myself and found the courage to be ugly old and defiantly unwantable and the rest of you bitches just HAVEN'T Tsk, tsk"

This book read like it was written by a Youtuber. The narrator is intensely unlikable, while simultaneously judging everyone around him (which you could argue is the point of the collection, but I would rebut is just a sign of the writer trying to justify his own narcissism.) I wanted so badly to love this memoir. It's such a shame it missed the mark by a mile.

What a very original book and writing. I loved the prose and how Purnell tells his stories. I think this will be a hit! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I was intrigued and in awe of how well the book flowed. Five stars.