This book is not for the faint of heart, in the best way possible. It's vulgar, and it's blunt, and it's absolutely brilliant. In particular, I'm struck by how effective Purcell's writing is. It's simple but it pulls no punches. The interconnectedness or lack thereof did take some getting used to (i.e. none of the chapters really connect, despite the narrator always being in first person), but I think the format fit the plot perfectly.
It's worth noting that the experience in this book could fundamentally never reflect my own; in that regard, it was hard to connect sometimes, but I still did enjoy this book overall.

“What are the mechanics of desire? In what feels like all three second of my mind spins onto a hard flashback on past lives—men I loved, some who I eventually hated; they are all still there somewhere, all hovering around. I called them “boyfriends”, though this was not always the case. But they were all like pieces of bubblegum you chew hours after the flavor leaves and that you accidentally swallow, and then (supposedly) sit in your guts for seven years.”

WHEW HONEY!!

Lots and lots of flavorful sex, psychedelic drugs, and rock and roll 🎸 is merely the tip of the iceberg in Brontez Purnell’s, 100 Boyfriends. It is a collection of short stories and an individual tale of what it’s like to be QUEER and searching and existing and loving, or looking for it, in the very least. We are taken from bathhouses to warehouses and from the bottom to the top in a literal exploration of what it means to be carefree and in bondage all at once.

THIS IS NOT A BOOK FOR THE FAINT AT HEART. THIS IS NOT A BOOK FOR THE PRUDE AND SHAMEFUL! This is a book of pride. It is raw and fierce and blatantly in your face. The characters are drug-induced hyper sexual and willing to go above and beyond any societal boundaries and proscribed limits.

This was my first reading of this author. At times I laughed and at times I bothered at how self-sabotage was the rule of the day often creating a somber tone surrounding the narrative. Such is life. What a wild ride!

Thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a cis white suburban mom with a gay stepson so this was an important read. But it wasn’t easy! There’s SO MUCH SEX. And lots of drugs. And even worse, so much loneliness … even after the sex and the drugs.

Brontez Purnell’s first book (through a major publisher) is not really about having 100 boyfriends. But it feels like it. There’s one sexual escapade after another, and the men are left “with a ghost of someone.” Purnell wrote: “Between two men, there can be a hundred ghosts in the room.”

While “100 Boyfriends” is a short read (less than 200 pages), it took a while for me to read as I found myself depressed after a few chapters. So I had to put it down. It’s really, really dark.

Sure, it is sometimes funny, but mostly it’s just raw and shocking. I can respect this as a literary work of art, but since I’m clearly not the target audience, it’s just not my jam.

Thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for an advanced digital copy, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you for sharing this title with me! I included it in a roundup of must-read LGBTQ+ books coming out in 2021 for Cosmopolitan.com https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/books/g35283160/lgbtq-books-2021/

I really enjoyed the raw intensity and emotional lability of several of these stories. I was so absorbed in some of them that I was genuinely disappointed when they ended. It was tough getting into the book because of the formatting - like the shorter vignettes seemed very disjointed to me and were hard to follow. I thought overall this was a fascinating journey into the perspective of queer black men that indeed covered sexuality but also trauma, racism, substance abuse and spirituality. The more queer stories the better in my opinion. Would read more like it.

Brontez Purnell takes us on a whirlwind journey into the world of queer black men of all ages and social situations. I struggled with the formatting of this book initially, as the vignettes left me longing for more connection to the characters. Admittedly I also struggled with the graphic nature of some of the scenes. However once I hit my stride I found beauty in the raw experiences depicted. Definite trigger warning for alcohol and drug abuse.

I give 100 Boyfriends 3.5 stars, rounded up.

This book felt disjointed to me at first. I was distracted by trying to find the connection between each story or snippet. Once I realized it was a losing battle, I began to enjoy the book more.

The writing is excellent. It's raw and emotive and graphic. This one is not for a reader with delicate sensibilities.

Pumell conveys so much in each short glimpse into the lives of various Black gay men. Some are funny, some are heartbreaking. Others are heartwarming and sweet. The emotions run the gamut.

I’m really struggling to review this. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Did I absolutely love it? No, but it’s hard to tell if that’s because of it in itself, or because it showcases an experience that is so far removed from my own.

I really appreciated the candid queer representation, and the tackling of important topics (white supremacy, othering, heteronormativity, addiction etc.) The writing was lyrical and captivating, and I really loved the intentional (?) ambiguity of the narrator/s. It was unclear whether it was meant to be formatted from one man’s perspective or as a series of anecdotes from different men – like a ‘slice of life’ piece. There’s no overarching plot and you don’t get to know any of the characters particularly well, but I think that’s all intentional. It’s more an exploration of the human psyche and queer existence; uncomfortable and heartbreaking at times, hilarious and light-hearted at others. It was definitely a quick read (I got through it in about three hours), and I appreciate the experience, although it did feel a bit repetitive by the end.

There are a lot of content warnings for this book, so be warned if you’re not okay with gritty realism (explicit sex, drug use, prostitution, self-harm/suicide/mental health).

The first half I was pretty into - I love a super short story, and I extra love a gay super short story, and a lot of the stories in this are fun and messy and even pretty touching. But eventually the stories felt more and more like just listening to an acquaintance’s long list of Grindr anecdotes, which I think is actually really interesting for some people who would like this a lot more, but doesn't do a lot for me.

This was a wild ride inside the mind of Brontez. In a similar vein as Paul Takes The Form of a Mortal Girl, but more of a memoir style. If you’re looking for plot line or character development, this isn’t it. If you’re looking for a chaotic gay man to take you on a journey through sex and time, this is it.

What a lovely literary debut. It was beautifully written and powerful, though sometimes difficult to read

My, oh my. How to go about reviewing this. My words here are going to be a bit of a stumbly mess that I’ll likely end up revising later. Please don’t hold it against me. I’m reeling from the emotional journey.

First, I’m not entirely sure if this book was meant to all be consumed as if told from a single character or like a collection of short stories? I’m going to assume being vague on that point was strategic and intentional in that the narrator seemed to actually dissociate from their own story at times while they were telling it which I actually really dug and empathized with. Given that there was also a great deal of trauma detailed in this book, I can only imagine as to the author’s reasoning for so much of the switching around. Soooo, I am going to assume that these encounters were all told from POV of one character despite the occasional name changes and even though the narration style shifts rather frequently between third and first person; sometimes within a single paragraph. If I‘m wrong in doing that, I apologize.
ALSO, do not take this criticism or reflection to mean that I didn’t enjoy the book. While I was very often confused by it, I rather loved the thing. A lot. It was intriguing, illuminating, entertaining and even heart-wrenching at times to read of this man (these men’s? Ugh I can’t decide!) dating exploits. Life and love from the perspective of a gay black man is something I need more of in my life. And my lack of context with which to understand this book can not be held against it. The more that I sit with these adventures in sex and dating, the more that I can relate to and am even inspired by them? So that’s… unexpected but appreciated. I want more from this author, for sure. And would recommend this book to anyone looking for a raw, unfiltered perspective on casual dating. Do not read this book if you do poorly with cringe-worthy moments and laughing when you probably shouldn’t. This book is not for the faint of heart. And oh how I love it for that.

I was so thoroughly consumed by *100 Boyfriends* that I'm not really sure how to even talk about it... But I'll try.

In this slender volume we are presented with vignettes of the lives of queer black men. We get to experience the moments that punctuate the expanse of a life, many of which are centered around sex and the pivotal role it can play in shaping our relationships, our sense of self, and ultimately our entire lives.

The prose is provocative and the storytelling masterful. I lived entire lives in as short a space as a single paragraph. Purnell provided me with a window into worlds that manage to be both mostly foreign to my lived experience but also hauntingly familiar in the emotions they evoke and the longings they explore. I think that I laughed as much because of the humor and wit that is present in his writing as I did out of nervousness from the realization that I could see myself in the pages.

To me, *100 Boyfriends* ultimately stands as a pointed commentary on the othering - both externalized and internalized - of both queer lives and black lives in the modern world and the common yearning to find belonging even in the midst of personal rebellion. I think I'll go read it again.

Thank you so much, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, MCD x FSG originals and Netgalley, for the chance to read this book.

100 Boyfriends is a collection of stories about flings, relationship, romance, a mix of sex, drugs, trouble, love, in a style funny and transgressive and I really enjoyed reading this book. I enjoyed some stories, I was invested and with others I struggled a bit. Overall, they were interesting and captivating and it was a nice read about queerness, love, flings and so much more.

This was beautifully written, and it really was funny. I loved it in the beginning.

But the longer it went on, I lost interest. The stories and vignettes and experiences got super repetitive. It was basically the same story of doing drugs/getting drunk, having a risky and meaningless sexual experience, and then ending on a sad or lonely note. And the very last section was odd, dull, and a low note to end on.

Journalistic in its execution, 100 Boyfriends is a collection of trysts, relationships, flings, and other experiences that have shaped the narrator's identity and relationship with romance. I sometimes felt myself at arm's length from the narrator in the sense that too often he felt 'along for the ride', lacking his own convictions, or desires that weren't defined by that particular person. This being said, the voice is strong and while structurally it was sometimes difficult to see the sum of the parts in the changes of the POV, there's still much to be gleaned here for a particular audience that I also happen to be a part of.

Thank you to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing me with a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

“But they were all like pieces of bubblegum you chew hours after the flavor leaves and that you accidentally swallow, and then (supposedly) sit in your guts for seven years.”

100 Boyfriends is an unapologetic exploration of queerness and sex. And it’s punk rock as hell. Purnell’s prose is candid, frank, and a little chaotic in the way that he puts fucking on full display. He doesn’t hold back. He doesn’t hold the reader’s hand or stop and explain. Either you’re along for the ride or you’re not and there’s nothing here that suggests that Purnell cares one way or the other.

There is a voyeuristic quality to the construction of these stories. They’re quick and to the point, jumping to a new vignette at the exact moment that you think you’ve settled into the story. Purnell doesn’t give you time to wonder about their lives beyond this moment before the curtain closes and reopens on the next scene. Many of his characters aren’t given names and sections become a long stream of bodies clashing into one another.

One thing that surprised me is that for a book that is, on the surface, all about fucking there isn’t a lot of deeply erotic prose. Descriptions of sex is simple and to the point in a way that makes it feel mundane. That connection between the endless mundane nature of sex as an act is a theme that runs throughout this book. The frank commentary on who is fucking who at any given moment in the book is neatly juxtaposed alongside Purnell’s poignant lines that dig deep into the psyche of his mostly unnamed characters. Purnell’s prose is witty and piercing and digs into the hearts of characters we only live with for two or three pages at a time. “The boy, as far as he and I are concerned, could show up to my house with a severed head and I would still let him in--that’s how unnecessarily devoted to him I am.” Moments like this cut beneath the veneer of sex, drugs, and chaos to pull out the theme of longing that is present in modern queer stories. We always want more. More fucking, more adventure, more love. Just more.

It would be a massive disservice to this book to write all of this and not talk about how funny it is. This surreal odyssey through self-sabotage and questionable decision is crafted with a dry wit and self-awareness towards the absurd.

100 Boyfriends easily situates itself inside the modern canon of southern, black, gay novels like Real Life by Brandom Taylor and memoirs like How We Fight For Our Lives by Saeed Jones.

Purnell presents a series of vignettes that unfurl the spectrum that love, sex, and relationships can take. As a whole, the overall collection is a strong mission statement on the fragility of our lives. Like any other collection, there are stronger sections than others. The shorter, more flash fiction, style fragments were a little broad. Anytime the reader is given the chance to go deeper with a lengthier piece, we are treated to an insightful voice that needs the room to explore.

Brontex Purnell is a queer legend. 100 Boyfriends is equally delicious, disgusting & delightful romp through 100 future/present/past lovers who the protagonist calls boyfriends with varying levels of sincerity. Watching the black, gay protagonist slip in and out of self-awareness, self-harm & sub-clinical sex adduction is at times harrowing, but ultimately I’m grateful that black queer people are allowed to be messy, vulnerable and arrogant in turns on the page rather than a fictional binary of perfect victims & perfect heroes is to be celebrated. Excited for all my friends to catch up & read this book when it comes out next year. Thanks so much for the e-ARC MCD/FSG and Netgalley.

Book Review for 100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell
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