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A History of My Brief Body was published by Two Dollar Radio.
A History of My Brief Body is a collection of essays by Billy-Ray Belcourt about being NDN and queer, and his personal experience as both and what that means in the larger context of Canada and the world. While Belcourt often focuses on one aspect or another, none of these things can be separated from each other. Canada's history of colonialism and anti-indigenous violence is a constant presence, as is the AIDS crisis and homophobia, past and present.
Belcourt's writing is lyrical (he is a poet) and packed with theory and metaphor. It's complex and I'm not sure I entirely understood large portions of it (I struggle with both poetry and theory). It's also deeply emotional, and while I'm not sure I always understood his specific ideas, I do feel like I understood the emotions behind them.
The essays are full of trauma and joy and love, and the desire for a different, better world. They're about how being othered makes you view yourself and those like you, and what it's like to be free of that lens, even temporarily. They're intensely personal, not because they reveal the minute details of Belcourt's life but because of all the emotion and thought in them.
This is definitely the sort of book that I believe would bring something different on every reread.
A History of My Brief Body is a collection of essays by Billy-Ray Belcourt about being NDN and queer, and his personal experience as both and what that means in the larger context of Canada and the world. While Belcourt often focuses on one aspect or another, none of these things can be separated from each other. Canada's history of colonialism and anti-indigenous violence is a constant presence, as is the AIDS crisis and homophobia, past and present.
Belcourt's writing is lyrical (he is a poet) and packed with theory and metaphor. It's complex and I'm not sure I entirely understood large portions of it (I struggle with both poetry and theory). It's also deeply emotional, and while I'm not sure I always understood his specific ideas, I do feel like I understood the emotions behind them.
The essays are full of trauma and joy and love, and the desire for a different, better world. They're about how being othered makes you view yourself and those like you, and what it's like to be free of that lens, even temporarily. They're intensely personal, not because they reveal the minute details of Belcourt's life but because of all the emotion and thought in them.
This is definitely the sort of book that I believe would bring something different on every reread.
