Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: I Can’t Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I’ve Put My Faith in Beyonce
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 4/12/1984
WEBSITE: https://www.michael-arceneaux.com/
CITY:
STATE: TX
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born April 12, 1984, Houston, TX; son of a registered nurse.
EDUCATION:Howard University, graduated 2007.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer.
WRITINGS
Contributor to periodicals and websites, including Essence, Into, Complex, the Root, Splinter, New York Times magazine, the Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Teen Vogue, Wired, Buzzfeed, the Guardian, them., Mic News, Esquire, NBCTHINK, Time Ideas, New York magazine’s Vulture, Salon, the Atlantic, Code Switch: NPR, and Comedy Central Online. Author of the blog the Cynical Ones.
SIDELIGHTS
Michael Arceneaux is a writer who contributes articles and essays to periodicals and online publications. He also wrote an advice column for the digital magazine Into. Arceneaux grew up in Houston, Texas and attended Howard University, where he majored in broadcast journalism. He is the first man in his family to graduate from college and at one point thought of entering the priesthood. He never intended to become a writer but wanted to be a talk show host who also wrote books.
In his first book, the autobiographical collection of essays titled I Can’t Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I’ve Put My Faith in Beyonce, Arceneaux writes about his journey to self-discovery and acceptance as a homosexual. In an interview with Los Angeles Times Online contributor Tre’vell Anderson, Arceneaux commented on the origins of the book’s title, noting that it is related to his mother, a devout Catholic, and a conversation they once had “where she mentions me being intimate with another man and that if something happened and I got hit by a bus, she wouldn’t know where I was going, [to heaven or hell]. And I told her, ‘Well, I can’t date Jesus. What do you want me to do?'”
I Can’t Date Jesus combines both humor and deep introspection to discuss Arceneaux’s experiences growing up as a sensitive and creative black man in a world that often seemed to deride these traits as well as his homosexuality. Arceneaux writes that he knew he was a homosexual at a very young age. Even with the growth of gay pride and a growing acceptance of homosexuality by society, Arceneaux still faced the fact that voices of persons of color are often silenced within the community. Through his own experiences, Arceneaux provides insights into minority life in modern America.
The essays cover almost eery aspect of Arceneaux’s life, from growing up in Houston, Texas to coming out as a homosexual to his devoutly religious mother. He also relates how his father, who was prone to alcoholic rages, approached him about the suspicion that his son may be gay. Arceneaux writes that he had serious issues with intimacy. For example, he reveals the anxieties he felt while masturbating to mental images of handsome men while simultaneously praying to god for punishment. Arceneaux’s first major step to accepting his homosexuality came when a priest asked him to think about joining the priesthood.
Arceneaux delves into the his family’s history of homophobia, which became apparent to him when his uncle died from AIDS and was made even more aware by his mother’s devotion to Catholicism. As a result, it would take Arcenenaux many years before he reconciled himself to his homosexuality and was willing to be open about it. Arceneaux also points out that it did not help that he lived and grew up in the conservative state of Texas. Arceneaux did find support within the family, however, in the person of his sister, whom he idolized. Arceneaux also found comfort in the music and personalities of singers such as Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige, and Madonna. However, he most identified with the music and persona of Beyonce. Their “music taught him he could be masculine however he wanted to be,” wrote Annie Bostrom in Booklist.
Arceneaux also writes about his career in writing. He notes that he faced enormous stress after graduating from college and was was faced with paying back enormous student loans just before a major recession hit. In the process of telling his own story, Arceneaux addresses the various challenges young people face when they feel marginalized to the point that they believe they face almost insurmountable odds to see pursuing their dreams. Despite the serious themes of the book, Arceneaux includes humor as he talks about bad dates and terrible haircuts.
“Arceneaux’s essays penetrate to the heart of intersectionality to reveal personal and religious trials of faith,” wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor, who went on to call the essays “funny, fierce, and bold.” A Publishers Weekly contributor referred to Arceneaux’s debut book as a “witty and powerful collection of personal essays.”
BIOCRIT
BOOKS
Arceneaux, Michael, I Can’t Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I’ve Put My Faith in Beyonce, Atria Paperback (New York, NY), 2018.
PERIODICALS
Advocate, June-July, 2018, Savas Abadsidis, review of I Can’t Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I’ve Put My Faith in Beyonce, p. 80.
Booklist, June 1, 2018, Annie Bostrom, review of I Can’t Date Jesus, p. 13.
Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2018, review of I Can’t Date Jesus.
Publishers Weekly, April 16, 2018, review of I Can’t Date Jesus, p. 82; June 18, 2018, Diane Patrick, “What Would Beyonce Do? Michael Arceneaux’s Debut Essay Collection, I Can’t Date Jesus, Tells the Story of His Tumultuous Early Life and His Quest for Identity,” p. 72.
ONLINE
Los Angeles Times Online, http://www.latimes.com/ (July 19, 2018), Tre’vell Anderson, “Why Michael Arceneaux ‘Can’t Date Jesus,'” author profile.
Michael Arceneaux website, https://www.michael-arceneaux.com (August 27, 2018).
Michael Arceneaux
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
Michael Arceneaux
Born Michael Joseph Arceneaux
April 12, 1984 (age 34)
Houston, Texas
Nationality American
Education Howard University
Occupation Writer
Era 21st century
Notable work I Can't Date Jesus
Website michael-arceneaux.com
Michael Arceneaux (born April 12, 1984) is an American writer. He is the author of the 2018 essay collection I Can't Date Jesus.
Contents
1 Early life
2 Career
2.1 Books
2.1.1 I Can't Date Jesus
2.1.2 I Don't Want to Die Poor
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
Early life
Michael Joseph Arceneaux was born April 12, 1984[1][2] in Houston, Texas, to a working-class black family from Louisiana.[3] His mother, a registered nurse,[4] was a devout Catholic and Arceneaux was raised in the church, even briefly considering the priesthood.[5]
Arceneaux, from the Hiram Clarke community, attended Madison High School in Houston,[6] then, on a combination of scholarships and student loans,[7] enrolled at Howard University,[3] where he majored in broadcast journalism and wrote for campus newspaper The Hilltop.[8] He graduated in 2007,[9] becoming the first man in his family to graduate from college.[7]
Career
After college, Arceneaux moved to Los Angeles where he began his writing career.[3] He has written for The Guardian, New York magazine,[3] Essence, Rolling Stone, Teen Vogue, BuzzFeed, The Washington Post,[10] The New York Times and XOJane, as well as writing an advice column, called "Dearly Beloved", at Into.[11]
Books
I Can't Date Jesus
Main article: I Can't Date Jesus
Arceneaux's first book, a collection of 17 humorous personal essays entitled I Can't Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I’ve Put My Faith in Beyoncé, was published on July 24, 2018[12] from Atria Books.[13] The book debuted at number 14 on The New York Times best-seller list for paperback nonfiction.[14] It focuses on his early life as a young black gay man growing up in a religious household in the southern United States.[15] The book's title arises in response to Areceneaux's Catholic upbringing and its implications for him as a gay man, particularly the idea that even if being gay was not a choice, he should not act on it;[16] finding that theological debates on the subject did not tend to prove fruitful, Arceneaux decided, "Easier to just clarify, 'I plan to have sex, so I can’t date Jesus.'"[5] Arceneaux completed the manuscript in 2011, but the search for an agent delayed the book's publication. Ultimately he signed with Jim McCarthy, who had originally declined his query but Arceneaux persisted, sending him more essays to read and McCarthy changed his mind.[3]
Reviewers have compared Arceneaux's essay collection to the work of Roxane Gay,[12] David Sedaris,[17] and Samantha Irby.[11] In Vogue, Chloe Schama and Bridget Read noted Arceneaux's "hysterically funny, vulnerable" style, calling the collection "a triumph of self-exploration, tinged with but not overburdened by his reckoning with our current political moment...The result is a piece of personal and cultural storytelling that is as fun as it is illuminating."[18]
I Don't Want to Die Poor
Arceneaux is writing a second book, I Don't Want to Die Poor,[19] which expands on his essay for The New York Times describing his private student loan debt.[5][9]
Michael Arceneaux is a Houston-bred, Howard-educated writer and author.
Michael is the author of the book, I Can’t Date Jesus, set for release July 2018 from Atria Books/Simon & Schuster.
Additionally, he is a regular contributor to sites like Essence, Into, Complex, The Root, Splinter, among others. Moreover, he’s written for the New York Times magazine, the Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Teen Vogue, Wired, Buzzfeed, The Guardian, them., Mic News, Esquire, NBCTHINK, Time Ideas, New York magazine’s Vulture, Salon, The Atlantic, NPR’s Code Switch, Comedy Central Online, and numerous additional outlets.
In the past, you could find Michael in his most natural state on The Cynical Ones, a humor blog filled with commentary on politics, pop culture, and personal anecdotes. The Root once named Michael named one of the Best Black Bloggers to Know . ESSENCE magazine named him one of the top #BlackTwitter voices to follow.
His work has been referenced everywhere from The Weekly Standard to Jezebel to MSNBC and even been deemed required reading for courses at Harvard University. Michael’s has also been featured on on MSNBC, NPR, BET, VH1, Viceland, SiriusXM Radio, in addition to various radio interviews on nationally syndicated programs.
Q&A
BOOKS
Why Michael Arceneaux 'Can't Date Jesus'
By TRE'VELL ANDERSON
JUL 19, 2018 | 10:00 AM
Michael Arceneaux's debut memoir, "I Can't Date Jesus" delves into his experiences as a self-described "southern black queer person." (Steven Duarte)
Becoming an author has been a long time coming for Michael Arceneaux. In fact, despite a recurring column for the digital magazine Into called “Dearly Beloved,” his personal blog “The Cynical Ones” and articles published everywhere from the New York Times to the now-defunct XOJane, he “never wanted to be a full-time writer,” he said.
Pause
Unmute
Loaded: 0%
Progress: 0%
Remaining Time
-0:26
Fullscreen
ADVERTISEMENT
The goal was to be a talk show host who happened to write books and that’s why his friends used to call him Donahue and Bryant Gumbel.
But with the release of “I Can’t Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I've Put My Faith in Beyoncé,” available July 24 (Atria), part of that dream is coming true.
“It took longer than I thought, kind of like waiting on a Beyoncé album,” he said. “But this is a much stronger book because of it.”
“I Can't Date Jesus” is a collection of essays written with Arceneaux’s trademark humor and unflinching frankness about his journey of self-discovery and acceptance. The 200-page easy read, written in a style that’s been compared to Samantha Irby and David Sedaris, reveals how the Houston native came out to his mother, laid down with a dog and got up with fleas and how he’s dealing with the current White House administration — the leader of which he calls Tangerine Mussolini, Sweet Potato Saddam and Mandarin Orange Mugabe, all in chapter 15. And, of course, he explains why Beyoncé is his “Lord and gyrator.”
Ahead of the book’s release and an Aug. 9 book signing and conversation with Janet Mock at Barnes & Noble at The Grove, The Times spoke with Arceneaux about his debut memoir, learning to accept himself as he was born and his favorite Beyoncé album. He also gives us a review of her recent joint album with Jay-Z.
"I Can't Date Jesus" by Michael Arceneaux (Atria)
How did you get to the title, “I Can’t Date Jesus?”
That’s a chapter related to my mother who understands that one is born gay but as a devout Catholic, follows church doctrine in that, “I know you can’t help it, but maybe you should not act on it.” So the chapter refers to a conversation we had a few years ago where she mentions me being intimate with another man and that if something happened and I got hit by a bus, she wouldn’t know where I was going, [to heaven or hell]. And I told her, “Well, I can’t date Jesus. What do you want me to do?”
I chose the title after I finished the book.
Have you given her an advance copy to check it out?
No. And it’s not that I’m afraid. As I write in the book, you've got to meet people where they are and you can’t, sometimes, change people’s opinions. Often when you think about coming out to your parents, there are two things that can happen: either they completely ice you out or they welcome you with open arms, maybe not immediately but eventually. With me, I’m in a gray area… and sometimes that gray area is all you’ll get, so sometimes, you have to create your own closure.
I don’t know if she’ll read it. I do know select relatives will be reading it because they told me... If I thought her reading it might lead to a fruitful conversation where we could have closure, I would’ve sent her an advance copy.
Unlike so many other forms of black art, the book transcends pain and struggle and comes out on the other side with humor. Was that intentional?
That’s kind of just who I am. I’m always making some kind of joke. If I wasn’t able to laugh at things in my life that have happened, I would probably be dead. I was just being myself in the book and wrote the book I wanted to write. And when you talk to black people and black queer people, they love humor. It’s not always a struggle. There’s a lot of joy and light within our community.
In the book, you talk about self-acceptance and coming to love your looks and your identity. What did that process look like for you?
I just came to realize that if I can be critical of other people and their work and projects and actions, then I should be self-aware and self-critical. And not in any detrimental way, but I should be able to analyze why I act the way I do and why I do certain things. I couldn’t really afford therapy, so I had to be my own Frasier. I found my inner Iyanla [Vanzant].
I’ve always wanted to make people laugh and think with my work. But at the end of the day, I wanted to be happy. I wanted to be more secure and not carry much baggage. There’s a Mary J. Blige song called “Baggage” many people probably don’t remember, but I didn’t want to be that song. It’s a bop, but I don't want to be it, and that prompted me to do the work.
When did you first confess Beyoncé as your Lord and Savior Beysus Christ?
I’ve been with Beyoncé for over 20 years. It was during Destiny’s Child, and I would see her and be like, “Oh my God! Look at her.” I’ve loved her since “No No No.” That’s why I sit at the higher echelon of the Beyhive.
What do you say to the few people out there who think she’s overrated?
You’re a liar, and God is not in you. I pray for your recovery.
ADVERTISEMENT
She recently released “Everything is Love” with Jay-Z. What are your thoughts?
I will acknowledge that I was a little doubtful about a joint album because I’ve been struggling with forgiveness of him because he cheated on Beyoncé. But I will say that it’s a Beyoncé album featuring her husband and he manages to keep up with her. But she out-raps him. I love the album. It’s perfect for summer. It’s the soundtrack for the book release.
What’s the best Beyoncé album?
I think self-titled is her best, but “B Day” is my favorite.
I’ll accept that answer. I’m partial to “4.”
I knew you were going to say that. “4” is a great album. I actually love all her albums, except one. You know which one…
Is there something you want readers to take away from the book?
I want people to leave with their own lessons, but I hope it speaks to anyone who has struggled with coming to terms with who you are meant to be versus who you were taught to be. There are a lot of people who have read it who aren’t anything like me that can relate to the part about religion or the part about issues with their parents, and there are so many books I’ve read from people who look nothing like me, but I was able to pull something. But you don’t often say that about a black queer person, especially a southern black queer person who doesn’t come from money. There’s very few of us out here in these spaces. I just hope people laugh and they think, and hopefully, I'm speaking to people who don’t usually feel heard.
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534181849392 1/8
Print Marked Items
WHAT WOULD BEYONCE DO?
Michael Arceneaux's debut essay
collection, I Can't Date Jesus, tells the
story of his tumultuous early life and his
quest for identity
Diane Patrick
Publishers Weekly.
265.25 (June 18, 2018): p72+.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Journalist Michael Arceneaux is a bit of a comedian: he's no stranger to snarky comments, his writing is
peppered with funny pop culture references ("I hadn't been to church in five Beyonce albums!"), and as we
sit in the conference room at his publisher's office, there's a smile on his face. But it's not just any smile:
within it lies a confidence earned by having decided not to be defeated by his past.
Arceneaux, who was born in Houston to a deeply religious Catholic mother and a father prone to what he
describes as "alcohol-induced rage," knew from age five that he was gay. But witnessing his family's
homophobia following his uncle's death from AIDS and living under his mother's religious restrictions
rendered him closeted and conflicted for many years.
He began writing for a living after graduating from Howard University and moving to Los Angeles, and it
was five years after he'd come out to everyone else in his life that he finally came out to his mother. And he
did that only because he'd written an article in Essence and wanted to warn her before she saw it. Arceneaux
recalls her saying, "I know you didn't choose to be gay, but if you have sex and then you [die), I don't know
where you're going." He says his first thought was, "Well girl, I can't date Jesus!"
That response became the title of Arceneaux's debut book: I Can't Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and
Other Reasons I've Put My Faith in Beyonce (Atria, July), a collection of candid, humorous yet deadly
serious and introspective essays in which he chronicles growing up, coming out, and dating, and his career
arc, set against the backdrop of restrictive religion, a turbulent home life, and pop culture. Arcenaux says
his journey of self-discovery required "unlearning every damaging thing I've seen and heard about my
identity, and allowing myself the space to figure out who I am and what that means on my terms."
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534181849392 2/8
One of the things he explores in the book, he says, is "what do you do when you have to create your own
closure with people whom you love but who you feel have damaged you or done you wrong, or whom you
have a chaotic history with? That experience was traumatic enough to live and make peace with, but it's
another thing to bare your soul on paper."
Arceneaux's personal opinion essays covering culture, sexuality, religion, and race have appeared in the
Guardian, New York magazine, and the New York Times', he has been a commentator on MSNBC, NPR,
SiriusXM, VH1, and Viceland. When told that his book is strikingly read-aloud-able, Arceneaux agrees that
it would make a great audiobook. "And I would love to be the narrator--I would love for y'all to hear my
twang coming in and out!"
As a teen living under his mother's strict rules, Arceneaux had little access to the activities his peers
enjoyed. Within this relative confinement, he found pop culture to be his saving grace--a window to life
outside of his bubble. "The man I've become has largely been molded by the lessons learned from the
famous women I've obsessed over throughout the course of my life," he writes. Beyonce, Mary J. Blige,
Janet Jackson, Madonna, and T-Boz: each in some way provided affirming imagery, especially about sex
and relationships, that he found very impactful as he got older.
After completing the book in 2011, Arceneaux began the long search for an agent. "There were not many
books like mine," he says. "My family is from Louisiana so I have a very specific Gulf Coast, working-
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534181849392 3/8
class, gay, black perspective." Although he got what he calls a "very polite no" from agent Jim McCarthy at
Dystel, Goderich & Bourret, Arceneaux decided to share with McCarthy relevant essays that he later
published, which led to him eventually being signed on as a client.
Arceneaux is clear on his purpose: "I wanted to write about my life with a mix of pathos and humor--the
same way a lot of white male authors like David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs get to write about their
lives." His editor at Atria is Rakesh Satyal, who followed the author's social and political commentary
before he signed him and was a fan. "Rakesh was always accessible, and when it came time to edit, every
change he made, every suggestion he had, made it stronger," Arceneaux says. "And I've always been
appreciative that he got the vision immediately and believed in what I was trying to do."
It's of great importance to Arceneaux that voices like his be heard. Because his goal is to make people laugh
and think, he especially admires authors who blend humor and tragedy in their personal stories, such as
Samantha Irby ("She manages to interject an easiness with the melancholy," he says). And he admires
activists Darnell Moore and DeRay Mckesson, who both have books coming out this year.
"I'm encouraged that there's more than one gay or queer-identifying black man with a book out by a
mainstream publisher," Arceneaux says. "I want other queer, other black, other others to write about their
lives with the complexity and the nuance and particularly the humor that is so often missing. Often,
particularly in books from black authors that are praised by the mainstream, we talk about ourselves in
terms of pathology--how it is so awful to be us. Even shopping this book, I think the humor threw people
off. Because sure, I've had a difficult background; I've had some trauma to deal with. But I can laugh about
those things. I can laugh at myself. I can laugh at the circumstances that I've been put in and continue to be
in, and I wanted to do it my way. So I hope that makes it easier for other people who want to tell their
stories."
I ask Arceneaux whether his parents will read the book. "My dad is not fittin' to go to Target and pick this
up," he says. "I've actually never seen my dad read a book. And I'm not going to give him a copy because
I've never done that with any of my other work. If my mom reads the book, I assume she wouldn't tell me:
she's from the school of don't tell people your business. She's still not happy I'm gay."
Arceneaux's next book will be an extension of "The Student Loan Serenity Prayer," an essay he wrote in
February for the New York Times Sunday Review about the toll that private student loan debt takes on
mental health and professional well-being. "You can overcome the burden of identity and religion, but if
you owe an obscene amount of money every month, you can't just shake that off," he says.
Asked about his love life, Arceneaux flashes the side eye. "Oh, I still don't have a man," he says. "I'm
dating, just nobody special. For right now, I am really comfortable alone. I'm not one of these people who
cringe about not having somebody--I would never be that person. But no shade to those who are!"
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534181849392 4/8
Patrick, Diane. "WHAT WOULD BEYONCE DO? Michael Arceneaux's debut essay collection, I Can't
Date Jesus, tells the story of his tumultuous early life and his quest for identity." Publishers Weekly, 18
June 2018, p. 72+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A544712377/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=a10d4b0d. Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A544712377
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534181849392 5/8
I Can't Date Jesus
Savas Abadsidis
The Advocate.
.1097 (June-July 2018): p80.
COPYRIGHT 2018 Regent Media
http://www.advocate.com/
Full Text:
I Can't Date Jesus is Michael Arceneaux's hilarious memoir about being black, gay, and Texan. Aroeneaux
is a welcome voice adding to those of other queer people of color. From his wry observational take on
bigoted Texans who have derided his right to exist, to his grandmother's religious-based admonishment of
his orientation (from which his clever title derives). Arceneaux's acerbic observational humor is reminiscent
of the very best of American humorist and author, David Sedaris. (Atria Paperbacks) --Savas Abadsidis
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Abadsidis, Savas. "I Can't Date Jesus." The Advocate, June-July 2018, p. 80. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A543466139/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=2f51b5e4.
Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A543466139
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534181849392 6/8
I Can't Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family,
Race, and Other Reasons I've Put My
Faith in Beyonce
Annie Bostrom
Booklist.
114.19-20 (June 1, 2018): p13+.
COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
I Can't Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I've Put My Faith in Beyonce. By Michael
Arceneaux. July 2018. 256p. Atria, paper, $17 (9781501178856). 818.
Houston-born, Harlem-based Arceneaux knew from a young age that he preferred boys. He also learned,
after an uncle's death from AIDS, to fear experiences that could result in his own sickness, and carried guilt
for his same-sex feelings based on his conservative Catholic upbringing. He found special comfort in his
sister, his idol and champion, and in Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige, Madonna, and eventually the queen
herself, Beyonce: women whose music taught him he could be masculine however he wanted to be.
Arceneaux reflects on all this in telling how he worked hard for his writing career while managing the stress
of graduating from Howard on the cusp of the recession with mountains of student-loan debt. For his
parents, whose terrifying fights he witnessed throughout his youth, he reserves a loving, life-earned
fairness. It's not all so serious, though, as he tackles bad dates and bad haircuts, too. Arceneaux is familiar,
funny, and irreverent in turn, but readers will stick with this very personal debut collection for his sincerity
most of all.--Annie Bostrom
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Bostrom, Annie. "I Can't Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I've Put My Faith in
Beyonce." Booklist, 1 June 2018, p. 13+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A546287403/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=def7ce24.
Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A546287403
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534181849392 7/8
Arceneaux, Michael: I CAN'T DATE
JESUS
Kirkus Reviews.
(May 15, 2018):
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Arceneaux, Michael I CAN'T DATE JESUS Atria (Adult Nonfiction) $17.00 7, 24 ISBN: 978-1-5011-
7885-6
A gay black journalist gets personal about race, religion, and sexuality in America.
Houston native Arceneaux gathers his most provocative essays to discuss how he went about "unlearning
every damaging thing I've seen and heard about my identity." He begins with a reflection of his childhood
and his devoutly Catholic--and homophobic--home environment. Although his mother taught him about
sexuality early on, his father ferociously condemned a gay uncle who died of AIDS. Fearful of being
revealed as homosexual, the author spent much of his adolescence masturbating to mental images of
gorgeous men while praying that "God wouldn't grab Moses's staff and knock the shit out of me with it."
When a priest approached him about joining the priesthood, Arceneaux realized he had to come to terms
with who he was. The author experimented with same-sex relationships at Howard University, but he
remained mostly closeted. After taking part in a New York City gay pride parade during college, he
tentatively began coming out, first to other students and then to his sister. The music of Beyonce--his "lord
and gyrator" and a woman notable for how she always "[stood] firm" in who she was as an artist and black
woman--also helped him find the courage to be himself. As Arceneaux grew into his gay identity, he
contemplated the nature of gay marriage, cross-racial gay attractions, and his own relationships with other
black men. He attempted to write about his revelations for the media, but when he did, his (mostly white)
editors saw what "[they] wanted to see" rather than the truths he attempted to communicate. Arceneaux's
essays penetrate to the heart of intersectionality to reveal personal and religious trials of faith. Together,
they make a powerful statement of self-acceptance in a world much in need of lessons about diversity,
tolerance, and openness.
A funny, fierce, and bold memoir in essays.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Arceneaux, Michael: I CAN'T DATE JESUS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 May 2018. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A538293926/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=da0d8ebe.
Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A538293926
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534181849392 8/8
I Can't Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family,
Race, and Other Reasons I've Put My
Faith in Beyonce
Publishers Weekly.
265.16 (Apr. 16, 2018): p82.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
I Can't Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I've Put My Faith in Beyonce
Michael Arceneaux. Atria, $17 trade paper
(256p) ISBN 978-1-5011-7885-6
"The world is still a harsh place for those who don't fit in with the status quo," writes journalist Arceneaux
in this witty and powerful collection of personal essays. Over the course of 17 pieces, Arceneaux explores
his experiences as a black, gay man and Catholic Southerner--identities frequently at odds with each other.
Arceneaux recalls praying to Jesus to "cure" him of his homosexuality as a teenager in Houston, and later
being "recruited" for priesthood as a college student at Howard University, noting at that period in his life
he saw his future self as "something more along the lines of 'Katie Couric with a dick.'" He later writes
about his postcollege stints living in Los Angeles and New York while trying to make it as a writer ("here
are the topics mainstream outlets love for me to write about from the perspective of a gay Black man: Black
homophobia, AIDS, sexual racism"). His dating escapades, meanwhile, are frequently hilarious and
sometimes disastrous: one man was judged unacceptable not because he had beaten up an ex-boyfriend, but
because he worked for Fox News, while another brought a flea infestation into Arceneaux's apartment.
Arceneaux has a biting sense of humor, referring to the persistence of Catholic guilt, for example, as "the
herpes of your conscience," and a nasty roommate as "land's answer to Ursula the Sea Witch." Arceneaux's
confident voice and unapologetic sense of humor will appeal to fans of Roxane Gay. (July)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"I Can't Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I've Put My Faith in Beyonce." Publishers
Weekly, 16 Apr. 2018, p. 82. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A536532752/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=5f8901dd. Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A536532752