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The Set Up
Carl Edward Jackson, a Black gay man, grew up in the South where it was morally unacceptable to be gay. He attended church with his divorced mother several times per week when he was a teenager, but often felt ostracized, as the pastor of the church regularly rejected homosexuality, and insisted that gay people would be sent to hell for eternity. This belief made it hard for Carl to "come out" and to love himself. He had no one to talk to about his sexuality and often felt lonely and depressed. So, consider Carl and his inspired story, The Set Up? In his early twenties, Carl relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, where his life was affected by his sexuality, HIV/AIDS, racial discrimination, sexual assault, incarceration and mental illness. After having a vision in which he was imbued to write a book, and through life altering circumstances, Carl manages to tell a riveting story that is certain to magnetize and inspirit the reader, as you live each moment with him. "Everyone has a testimony and I must tell the story," Carl expresses with conviction... "Are you ready for The Judgment?"
218 pages, Paperback
Published February 18, 2022
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 6, 2026
The Set Up is a raw, deeply personal memoir that confronts the collision of faith, sexuality, race, and survival with unflinching honesty. Carl Edward Jackson recounts his life as a Black gay man raised in the Southern church, where condemnation replaced compassion and silence became a condition for belonging. The result is a narrative shaped by loneliness, internalized shame, and the long struggle toward self-acceptance.
Jackson’s early experiences with religion are especially striking. Attending church multiple times a week as a teenager, he absorbs messages that frame his identity as sinful and irredeemable. These teachings do not merely wound they delay his ability to speak, to love himself, and to seek support. The book makes clear how damaging moral absolutism can be when it denies people language for their own lives.
As the narrative moves to Atlanta, the scope widens. Jackson does not shy away from recounting experiences of HIV/AIDS, sexual assault, incarceration, racial discrimination, and mental illness. These events are not presented for shock value, but as interconnected realities that shape his understanding of vulnerability, resilience, and judgment both societal and internal. The memoir’s power lies in its refusal to simplify pain or redemption.
A spiritual throughline runs throughout the book, though it is complex and contested. Jackson’s vision compelling him to write becomes a turning point, reframing storytelling itself as an act of survival and witness. The Set Up positions testimony not as moral instruction, but as truth telling: the insistence that lived experience matters, even when it challenges religious, cultural, or social norms.
At 218 pages, the memoir is direct and immersive, inviting readers to sit with discomfort rather than resolve it too neatly. The Set Up will resonate with readers interested in LGBTQ+ narratives, Black memoir, trauma-informed storytelling, and examinations of faith that grapple honestly with harm as well as hope. Jackson’s story is not easy but it is necessary.
Jackson’s early experiences with religion are especially striking. Attending church multiple times a week as a teenager, he absorbs messages that frame his identity as sinful and irredeemable. These teachings do not merely wound they delay his ability to speak, to love himself, and to seek support. The book makes clear how damaging moral absolutism can be when it denies people language for their own lives.
As the narrative moves to Atlanta, the scope widens. Jackson does not shy away from recounting experiences of HIV/AIDS, sexual assault, incarceration, racial discrimination, and mental illness. These events are not presented for shock value, but as interconnected realities that shape his understanding of vulnerability, resilience, and judgment both societal and internal. The memoir’s power lies in its refusal to simplify pain or redemption.
A spiritual throughline runs throughout the book, though it is complex and contested. Jackson’s vision compelling him to write becomes a turning point, reframing storytelling itself as an act of survival and witness. The Set Up positions testimony not as moral instruction, but as truth telling: the insistence that lived experience matters, even when it challenges religious, cultural, or social norms.
At 218 pages, the memoir is direct and immersive, inviting readers to sit with discomfort rather than resolve it too neatly. The Set Up will resonate with readers interested in LGBTQ+ narratives, Black memoir, trauma-informed storytelling, and examinations of faith that grapple honestly with harm as well as hope. Jackson’s story is not easy but it is necessary.
Displaying 1 of 1 review