Cipher Press Ten Bridges Ive Burnt A Memoir in Verse.

by Brontez Purnell

In Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt, Brontez Purnell—the bard of the underloved and overlooked—turns his gaze inward. A storyteller with a musical eye for the absurdity of his own existence, he is peerless in his ability to find the levity within the stormiest of crises. Here, in his first collection of genre-defying verse, Purnell reflects on his peripatetic life, whose ups and downs have nothing on the turmoil within. “The most high-risk homosexual behavior I engage in,” Purnell writes, “is simply existing.”

The thirty-eight autobiographical pieces pulsing in Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt find Purnell at his no-holds-barred best. He remembers a vicious brawl he participated in at a poetry conference and reckons with packaging his trauma for TV writers’ rooms; wrestles with the curses, and gifts, passed down from generations of family members; and chronicles, with breathless verve, a list of hell-raising misadventures and sexcapades. Through it all, he muses on everything from love and loneliness to capitalism and Blackness to jogging and the ethics of art, always with unpredictable clarity and movement.

With the same balance of wit and wisdom that made 100 Boyfriends a sensation, Purnell unleashes another collection of boundary-pushing writing with Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt, a book as original and thrilling as the author himself.

Genres: Poetry, Memoir, Nonfiction, LGBT, Queer, Audiobook, Biography

144 pages, Paperback

Published February 15, 2024

About the author

Brontez Purnell is an Oakland-based writer, musician, dancer, and director. He is the author of several books, including Since I Laid My Burden Down, and the zine Fag School; frontman for the punk band The Younger Lovers; and founder of the Brontez Purnell Dance Company.

Reviews

[Willow Heath]

Queer Black author and musician Brontez Purnell shook up the LGBTQ+ fiction space with his short story collection 100 Boyfriends, and with Ten Bridges I've Burnt he continues to innovate and create astonishing works of literature. Ten Bridges I've Burnt is a memoir of sorts; a collection of short pieces of prose poetry that behave as ruminations and confessions about his life, his family, his childhood, and those he has loved.

My full thoughts: https://booksandbao.com/contemporary-...

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars for Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt: A Memoir In Verse (audiobook) by Brontez Purnell read by the author.

It was interesting to see how the author was able to pack his life into such a short book. There’s definitely no long winded stories about his family and childhood. He tells a number of short stories about being a writer and a lot of the bad behavior and misadventures he’s gotten into.

[Morgan Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find Brontez Purnell incredibly funny. This one had some humor but more than anything I was moved by the way he wrote. I don't consider myself a fan of poetry but I found the writing wonderful. It evoked something within me. There was something so stark about many of the phrases (which were also funny) that I could easily recognize Purnell's distinct voice. While his first book that I'm aware of in verse, it manages to capture something that he's explored in his previous works about his life and relationships.

[nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

READING VLOG

Major thanks to NetGalley and MCD for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts:

"...𝘪𝘧 𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩
𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯
𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘧*𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢
𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘧*𝘤𝘬 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬"

Purnell is so real for this. I want to go to brunch with him and laugh and cry and look at boys and go out with them, through and through bottomless mimosas. Kitchen Story? Mama's?

Capturing the queer experience with such raw honesty that hones in on humor and pure tenderness. All in verse, he is himself, and a life unabashedly lived that has you leaving with a bit more richness in life.

If you enjoyed this review, please consider picking up the book through my affiliate link here.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

lov this guy

[Cam Waller · Rating 4 out of 5]

a masterclass in voice and personality— let’s give Brontez their flowers 💐

[elise]

Okay maybe I’m cheating a little bit with how many books in verse I’ve been reading this month, but it’s fine because I like verse.

I was drawn to Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt because you know who’s great at burning bridges? Me. Burnt waaay more than ten. Architects fear me.

A memoir in verse was an interesting topic. I think it was executed fine, although maybe I wasn’t entirely the target audience. Still a great voice though. Very short and to the point.

✧ ✧ ✧

≪reading 31 books for 31 days of may, 2024≫
╰┈➤ 1. nightbitch by rachel yoder
╰┈➤ 2. brain on fire: my month of madness by susannah cahalan
╰┈➤ 3. louder than hunger by john schu
╰┈➤ 4. five survive by holly jackson
╰┈➤ 5. cold by mariko tamaki
╰┈➤ 6. a shot in the dark by victoria lee
╰┈➤ 7. forever is now by mariama j. lockington
╰┈➤ 8. nimona by n.d. stevenson
╰┈➤ 9. blue hunger by viola di grado
╰┈➤ 10. saints of the house hold by ari tison
╰┈➤ 11. ten bridges i’ve burnt by brontez purnell

[Mic Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

A party!!!!!

[Sonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

“This was my last ice age/ I’m thawing out/ my self esteem is flooding the earth”
Another great book by brontez purnell <3 I recently saw the zine exhibit at the Brooklyn museum where purnell’s contributions to the culture, from performance art to his zine “fag school” to his punk music, were on display. Both that feature in the exhibit and this book serve as somewhat of a retrospective on at least two decades of art, relationships and wisdom from purnell, but this book also shows how he has grown and is able to shift to new formats. To quote the book again, (in response to an art teacher suggesting that burning picassos would be a great experiment), “there was the thing I was looking for, the notion that somehow there is always room, or maybe we are always clearing the way for the new.” Revisiting old themes but treading new ground, this was a great read.

[Liv Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading 10 Bridges I've Burnt gave rise to daydreams and/or recollections of:

the best night at a bookstore
benders in a big city
being in a public fistfight
when a friend says you look "suspiciously skinny"
boyfriends just to have them
losing count (of many things)
an unaffordable feast

[jame✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

“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”

Brontez > literally everyone else

[Danielle | Dogmombookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stellar

[Cormac · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this!!!!! pushing from 4 to 5 because of the sheer lucidity of voice — which is my favourite thing to find in verse, anyways — and the new format was done well. Purnell, like a lot of modern writers, leans heavily on the “self indulgent cynic,” but he earns it whenever he does

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this memoir-in-verse as much as I liked 100 Boyfriends. The format works well; I often think the mistake memoir writers make is thinking they need 250 pages of prose to tell their stories. Purnell is sharp and funny and smart and a badass storyteller.

[Katherine D. Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this on audio and it was such a WONDERFUL experience. It was beautiful, raunchy, gay AF, and so full of life and I loved it.

[mikayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

a star ❤️

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I have been seasick
so long
it's become a pleasant feeling
I am a vertigo romantic
how special a feeling
where everyone tells me
my mind hallucinates
violent movement
in what is actually stillness"

[Lauren Fanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Ciara]

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!)

[mads · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved TEN BRIDGES I’VE BURNT: A Memoir in Verse by Brontez Purnell! I was so excited to read this and I loved it so much I read it twice! I first read this ARC copy a few months ago and then listened to it on audio last week read by the author. I loved the idea of a memoir told through poems. I loved the humour, honesty, boldness and joy! Within these 38 poems Purnell shares his experiences from being born in Athens, Alabama, to graduating from UC Berkeley, to self love and TV writing. I loved all the poems and my faves are Rage of Every Color, Tommy Chin, On Writing, and I Am Decided. This is one of my favourite books of 2024!

Thank you to FSG books for my ARC!

[Natalie Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Thank you to Net Galley and Farrar, Straus & Giroux for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I very much enjoyed these poems. The author has the gift of writing in such a way that feels natural, as if a friend is having a conversation with you yet the poems are beautiful, raw, honest and revealing as if innermost secrets are being divulged. These poems are autobiographical that deal with being Black and Queer, family issues, his job as a writer in entertainment, sex and intimacy. I will definitely be reading more of this author.

[Dylan Murray]

Jag älskar Brontez Purnell. Jag visste att jag älskar Brontez Purnell innan ens min pojkvän från Berlin gav mig den här boken. Allt som krävs är 3 intervjuer, 1 online läsning och hans rejected fan fictions om Jacob Elordi. ”I put one of his oversized hockey jerseys from when he was an Olympic hockey player back in Australia- it smelled like memories. Suddenly, I felt Jacob roll up on me from behind, his soft breath on the back of my neck as he whispered “I can’t father our fake baby anyway- I’m too busy being YOUR daddy” “oh Jacob”…”.

[Mish Mash Succotash · Rating 5 out of 5]

"In the twilight of my salad years" is now a part of my identity.

[Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! Purnell makes poetry both accessible and modern but so layered.

I listened to this on audiobook, which was read by Purnell, so that was amazing.

However, I do want to get a physical copy so I can pull out the quotes that resonated with me. I adored the poem "Auntie," which I immediately listened to twice, and I'll never forget the phrase "in the twilight of my salad era." No one talks about queerness, race, being a gay slut (positive), living in a body, fatness, and America quite like Purnell.

[Fanny · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

[Kailin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps the most true memoir I’ve read

[Kens ♋️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually don’t give books 5 stars, but I listened to the audiobook for this one and I was having a great time doing my laundry lol. Very enjoyable

[thalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some stunning lines, some phrases that i will be forever grateful for, sometimes a bit instagram-y or millennial, but ultimately fully worth enjoying and loving