HILLBILLY QUEER: A Memoir
by J.R. Jamison
- Winner of the 2022 Nautilus Book Award for Best Memoir
- Shortlisted for the 2022 Indiana Authors Award
- Nominated for the 2022 Dayton Literary Peace Prize
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Print Edition & eBook: The Facing Project Press | Release: 05/11/2021 | ISBN: 9781734558166 (paperback) / 9781734558173 (eBook) | Library of Congress Control Number: 2020946996 | 242 pages
Audiobook: OrangeSky Audio | Release: 02/14/2023 | Narrator: J.R. Jamison | 6 hours
PRAISE FOR HILLBILLY QUEER
“J.R. Jamison has written one of the most humane and challenging memoirs to come out of the Midwest.”
— Ashley C. Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Somebody’s Daughter and host of the HBO podcast Lovecraft Country Radio
“One of those rare books that finds beauty in the irreconcilable. In an age when our politics and our nation can feel broken, Hillbilly Queer shows us the messy glue of love that still holds families together.”
— Samantha Allen, GLAAD award-winning journalist and author of Real Queer America
“Hillbilly Queer picks at the American cultural fiction of a monolithic heartland filled with stereotypical blue-collar people. Underneath the scab of his own childhood alienation, Jamison is able to rediscover nuance in what he’s left behind.”
— Foreword Reviews Magazine (selected as an “Editor’s Pick”)
“J.R. Jamison is a North American cultural leader who helps us confront today’s political polarization.”
— Arts Midwest (Minneapolis)
“A pure and thoughtful reflection of growth and identity.”
— Dive In Magazine (Seattle)
BOOK TOUR/MEDIA
The Facing Project Radio Show on NPR — April 24, 2021 (LISTEN NOW)
Huckleberry Gin Podcast in conversation with host and author Carly Gelsinger — May 5, 2021 (LISTEN NOW)
HILLBILLY QUEER Book Launch in conversation with New York Times bestselling author Kelsey Timmerman (hosted by Second Flight Books — Lafayette, IN) — May 14, 2021 (WATCH NOW)
Common Threads: A Conversation with Angela Jackson-Brown and J.R. Jamison (hosted by Irvington Vinyl & Books — Indianapolis, IN) — June 28, 2021 (WATCH NOW)
J.R. Jamison in Conversation with Annabel Soutar (hosted by Arts Midwest and the Québec Government Office in Chicago — Minneapolis, MN) — August 4, 2021 (WATCH NOW)
J.R. Jamison in Conversation with Samantha Allen (hosted by The Novel Neighbor — St. Louis, MO) — August 9, 2021 (WATCH NOW)
An Afternoon with J.R. Jamison: A Discussion with Readings from HILLBILLY QUEER (hosted by Maring-Hunt Library) — September 4, 2021 (WATCH NOW)
An Evening with J.R. Jamison and Ashley C. Ford: A Celebration of Queer Writers (hosted by Muncie PRIDE and Ball State University) — October 8, 2021, 7 p.m., Cardinal Hall A, B, & C (WATCH NOW)
MORE DATES COMING SOON! To request an appearance, contact Christie Hinrichs at christie@authorsunbound.com or 541-797-2217. View J.R.’s profile here.
SUMMARY
J.R. Jamison spends his days in a world of trigger warnings and safe spaces, while his trigger-happy dad, Dave, spends his questioning why Americans have become so sensitive. Yet at the height of the 2016 election, the two decide to put political differences aside and travel to rural Missouri for Dave’s fifty-five year class reunion. But with the constant backdrop of the Trump vs. Clinton battle at every turn, they are forced to explore one formidable question: Will the trip push them further apart or bring them closer together?
Traveling through the rural, sun-beaten landscapes of Missouri the two meet people along the way who challenge their concepts of right and wrong, and together they uncover truths about their family’s past that reveals more than political differences, they discover a lesson on the human condition that lands them on the international pages of The Guardian.
Hillbilly Queer is an enduring love story between a dad and son who find that sometimes the differences between us aren’t really that different at all.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J.R. JAMISON is a founder of The Facing Project, a national organization that creates a more understanding and empathetic world through stories that inspire action. He also co-hosts The Facing Project Radio Show on NPR. His work has been featured in The Guardian, Harlem World Magazine, The Huffington Post, Writer’s Digest, and in numerous literary journals. He lives in Muncie, Indiana, with his husband Cory and their dog, J.J.
To learn more about J.R. and his writing, follow him online at jrjamison.com and on Twitter & Instagram, @jr_jamison.
