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Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
In his memoir Poking Fun at My Pusillanimity: A Queer Southern Becoming, Kenneth Cupp describes living with his mother and step-father in MawMaw Elsie’s house after leaving a crowded trailer, sharing space in closely monitored and conservative routines. At school, he's repeatedly bullied by Rob, escalating into a terrifying cornfield incident where Cupp is left injured, but chooses not to report it. In church, Cupp joins Youth Fellowship and writes a play that presents events and scripture as he understands them, but during rehearsal, the church leaders stop the performance and demand changes to what they consider inappropriate. Cupp refuses to alter the script and defends its content. Daisy Mae tells him he cannot remain in the house if he continues presenting that material, while the wider story tracks how these pressures follow him across his daily life and identity.
Poking Fun at My Pusillanimity is a supremely well-written, intelligent, and often witty depiction of what Kenneth Cupp’s upbringing looked like. Cupp does such a great job of showing what he's been through. And it's a heck of a lot. At one point, he's on a storm-tossed school bus, with students panicking as it lifts and crashes. In another, he's a witness to a trampoline accident that leaves someone paralyzed. Cupp is likeable in both his strength and vulnerability, and he's completely transparent in the way he presents how he tries to understand his sexuality, especially as he introduces readers to Benny. I think what struck me the most is his journey with Trichotillomania—compulsive hair pulling—as I recognized the trait in one of my own immediate family members. Cupp vividly discusses what this is, and something clicked inside me, and I connected it to a person I love in my own life. It is something I will never, ever forget. Readers who appreciate intelligent memoirs that are conversational in writing style, and who are looking for amazing queer life writing, Southern settings, and accounts centered on youth experience will love this book. Very highly recommended.
