Everywhere You Don’t Belong
Everywhere You Don’t Belong by Gabriel Bump, published by Algonquin Books on January 12, 2021, is a debut novel that explores the complexities of growing up on the South Side of Chicago. This 288-page work presents the life of Claude McKay Love, an average young man navigating the challenges of abandonment, violence, and societal pressures while seeking a sense of belonging. Through a blend of dark humor and poignant moments, Bump delves into themes of identity and the struggle for acceptance in a world marked by racial tensions.
Readers will find a narrative that captures the essence of coming of age against a backdrop of urban life and family dynamics. As Claude grapples with his upbringing and the expectations placed upon him, he embarks on a journey to redefine himself beyond the confines of his environment. The novel addresses the intersection of personal and social issues, reflecting on the search for a place to fit in while confronting the realities faced by young Black men in America. Everywhere You Don’t Belong offers a unique perspective on the quest for identity and belonging in contemporary society.
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A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 2020
Winner of the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence
“A comically dark coming-of-age story about growing up on the South Side of Chicago, but it’s also social commentary at its finest, woven seamlessly into the work . . . Bump’s meditation on belonging and not belonging, where or with whom, how love is a way home no matter where you are, is handled so beautifully that you don’t know he’s hypnotized you until he’s done.” —Tommy Orange, The New York Times Book Review
In this alternately witty and heartbreaking debut novel, Gabriel Bump gives us an unforgettable protagonist, Claude McKay Love. Claude isn’t dangerous or brilliant—he’s an average kid coping with abandonment, violence, riots, failed love, and societal pressures as he steers his way past the signposts of youth: childhood friendships, basketball tryouts, first love, first heartbreak, picking a college, moving away from home.
Claude just wants a place where he can fit. As a young black man born on the South Side of Chicago, he is raised by his civil rights–era grandmother, who tries to shape him into a principled actor for change; yet when riots consume his neighborhood, he hesitates to take sides, unwilling to let race define his life. He decides to escape Chicago for another place, to go to college, to find a new identity, to leave the pressure cooker of his hometown behind. But as he discovers, he cannot; there is no safe haven for a young black man in this time and place called America.
Percolating with fierceness and originality, attuned to the ironies inherent in our twenty-first-century landscape, Everywhere You Don’t Belong marks the arrival of a brilliant young talent.
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