No Ashes in the Fire

No Ashes in the Fire
Author Darnell L. Moore
Country United States
Language English
Publisher Nation Books
Publication date
 May 29, 2018
Pages 257
ISBN 978-1-568-58834-6
OCLC 1035947395

No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black and Free in America is a 2018 memoir by American writer and activist Darnell L. Moore. It explore Moore's experiences growing up in poverty in New Jersey, and his struggles with his personal identity as both black and queer.

Overview

No Ashes in the Fire follows Moore's early life, growing up black and queer, born to teenage parents and living in poverty in Camden, New Jersey.[1] It explores Moore's struggle with his racial identity against the popular expectation of "little more than anger from black boys", and his sexual identity in against the popular notion of "black men as symbols of hyper-heterosexuality".[1]

The book recalls a history of bullying and discrimination, including the event from which its title is drawn, where local boys doused him in gasoline, and attempted to burn him alive.[2][3] It follows through the throes of the AIDS epidemic in the US,[4] and explores the breadth of Moore's life from his abusive father, to his untimely heart attack at age 19, which served as his later inspiration.[5]

Reception

Kirkus Reviews call No Ashes in the Fire "an engaging meditation on identity and creativity,"[2] while Publishers Weekly dubbed it "a stunning tribute to affirmation, forgiveness, and healing", and an "invigorating emotional tonic".[5] In their interview with Moore, The Philadelphia Inquirer introduced it as both compelling and vulnerable, "glorious and traumatic".[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Oluo, Ijeoma (August 8, 2018). "Black, Gay and Becoming Visible". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  2. 1 2 "No Ashes in the Fire". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  3. ↑ Watkins, T. (July 12, 2018). ""No Ashes in the Fire" author Darnell Moore on what it means to be "Black and Free in America"". Salon. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  4. ↑ Moore, Darnell L. "Darnell Moore on HIV Fears and His Experience as a Queer Black Man (Excerpt from No Ashes in the Fire)". Out. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  5. 1 2 "No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black & Free in America". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  6. ↑ Harden, Brandon T. (June 6, 2018). "Darnell L. Moore's 'No Ashes in the Fire': Coming of age queer, male, and black". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  • Interview with Darnell L. Moore. Rethinking Gender and Sexuality in “No Ashes in the Fire”. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Published July 3, 2018. Via YouTube.
  • Moore, Darnell L. "Darnell Moore on HIV Fears and His Experience as a Queer Black Man (Excerpt from No Ashes in the Fire)". Out. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  • Moore, Darnell L (29 May 2018). No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black and Free in America. PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1-56858-949-7 – via Google Books.
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