Michael Arceneaux

Michael Arceneaux (born April 12, 1984) is an American writer. He is the author of the 2018 essay collection I Can't Date Jesus, a New York Times bestselling book. His second book is entitled I Don't Want to Die Poor (2020).

Michael Arceneaux
Born
Michael Joseph Arceneaux

(1984-04-12) April 12, 1984
Houston, Texas
NationalityAmerican
EducationHoward University
OccupationWriter
Era21st century
Notable work
I Can't Date Jesus
Websitemichael-arceneaux.com

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, Vulture, The Washington Post,[10] The New York Times and XOJane, as well as writing an advice column, called "Dearly Beloved", at Into.[11]

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 Arceneaux'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's second book, I Don't Want to Die Poor (2020),[19] expands on his essay for The New York Times describing his private student loan debt.[5][9]

See also

References
  1. "EBONY MAGAZINE on Twitter". Twitter. April 12, 2012. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
  2. Arceneaux, Michael (January 14, 2017). "Michael Jackson, Urban Myths and the Grease From Jermaine Jackson's Fade". The Root. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
  3. Patrick, Diane (June 15, 2018). "What Would Beyoncé Do? Michael Arceneaux's Asking". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  4. Arceneaux, Michael (2013-03-06). "Sex-Ed in Kindergarten?". Ebony. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  5. Harris-Perry, Melissa (15 June 2018). "'I Don't Do Sad Gay': Michael Arceneaux in Conversation With Melissa Harris Perry". Elle. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  6. Gross, Terry (2018-07-23). "Growing Up Black, Gay And Catholic In Texas, Memoirist Put His Faith In Beyoncé". NPR. Retrieved 2018-08-06. ARCENEAUX: I love Howard University now. [...] And I remember one girl specifically saying, oh, my God, you went to Madison High School, and you're from Hiram Clarke, and you go here.
  7. Arceneaux, Michael (February 20, 2009). "Is College Worth It?". The Root. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
  8. Meade Jr., Tommy G. (2016-07-31). "Howard Alum Michael Arceneaux Basically Wants To Know Who Keeps Asking Bow Wow Questions". HBCU Buzz. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
  9. Arceneaux, Michael (February 10, 2018). "Opinion | The Student Loan Serenity Prayer". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
  10. Gilson, D. (2018-06-27). "'I Can't Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, And Other Reasons..." Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
  11. Anderson, Tre'vell (July 29, 2018). "Why Michael Arceneaux 'Can't Date Jesus'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  12. "Nonfiction Book Review: I Can't Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I've Put My Faith in Beyoncé by Michael Arceneaux. Atria, $17 trade paper (256p) ISBN 978-1-5011-7885-6". Publishers Weekly. April 16, 2018. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
  13. Gonzalez, Catherine Lizette (29 June 2018). "The Must-Read Race and Culture Books of the Summer | Colorlines". Colorlines. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  14. "Paperback Nonfiction Books - Best Sellers - The New York Times". Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  15. Mania, Greg (2018-07-24). "Michael Arceneaux On Why He Can't Date Jesus". PAPER. Retrieved 2018-07-25.
  16. Young, Danielle (July 24, 2018). "Michael Arceneaux's Debut Book, I Can't Date Jesus is For Those Who Unapologetically Bop...With Chicken Wings". The Root. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  17. Abadsidis, Savas (2018-05-28). "On the Shelf". The Advocate. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  18. Schama, Chloe; Read, Bridget (May 30, 2018). "13 Books to Thrill, Entertain, and Sustain You This Summer". Vogue. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  19. Irby, Samantha (2018-07-23). "Country, Black Ass, Queer Perspective: Talking with Michael Arceneaux". The Rumpus. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
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