The Gardens of Our Childhoods
John Belk
The Gardens of Our Childhoods, the stunning debut by John Belk and winner of the Autumn Houe Press Rising Writer Prize, looks at the world of professional wrestling to excavate the real within the artificial and explore the projections we create, run from, and delight in.
Belk uses the spectacle of wrestling to stare deeply into American culture and masculinity, parsing the intersecting threads of patriarchy and gender, and unpacking identity formation and performance. As Belk pries into toxic masculinities, he leaves space also for tenderness, queerness, and resistance to normative structures, opening the potential for love and admiration.
Populated by classic and contemporary wrestlers like André the Giant, Hulk Hogan, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Ricky Steamboat, Bruno Sammartino, Marcus "Buff" Bagwell, and more, this book is ultimately about the constant deconstruction and reconstruction of our identities that smudge fiction and reality. Like wrestlers in their operatic and winding storylines, we learn how to project and inhabit identities while growing into and fighting against the scripts we write for ourselves and those that are imposed on us.
Author - John Belk.
Narrator - John Belk.
Published Date - Thursday, 09 January 2025.
Location:
United States
Networks:
John Belk
Autumn House Press Rising Writer Prize
Autumn House Press
English Audiobooks
Findaway Audiobooks
Description:
The Gardens of Our Childhoods, the stunning debut by John Belk and winner of the Autumn Houe Press Rising Writer Prize, looks at the world of professional wrestling to excavate the real within the artificial and explore the projections we create, run from, and delight in. Belk uses the spectacle of wrestling to stare deeply into American culture and masculinity, parsing the intersecting threads of patriarchy and gender, and unpacking identity formation and performance. As Belk pries into toxic masculinities, he leaves space also for tenderness, queerness, and resistance to normative structures, opening the potential for love and admiration. Populated by classic and contemporary wrestlers like André the Giant, Hulk Hogan, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Ricky Steamboat, Bruno Sammartino, Marcus "Buff" Bagwell, and more, this book is ultimately about the constant deconstruction and reconstruction of our identities that smudge fiction and reality. Like wrestlers in their operatic and winding storylines, we learn how to project and inhabit identities while growing into and fighting against the scripts we write for ourselves and those that are imposed on us. Author - John Belk. Narrator - John Belk. Published Date - Thursday, 09 January 2025.
Language:
English
Chapter 1
Duration:00:00:25
Chapter 2
Duration:00:00:40
Chapter 3
Duration:00:01:44
Chapter 4
Duration:00:01:12
Chapter 5
Duration:00:00:46
Chapter 6
Duration:00:00:36
Chapter 7
Duration:00:00:50
Chapter 8
Duration:00:00:54
Chapter 9
Duration:00:00:16
Chapter 10
Duration:00:00:44
Chapter 11
Duration:00:00:33
Chapter 12
Duration:00:06:02
Chapter 13
Duration:00:00:18
Chapter 14
Duration:00:01:04
Chapter 15
Duration:00:00:50
Chapter 16
Duration:00:01:02
Chapter 17
Duration:00:00:38
Chapter 18
Duration:00:00:34
Chapter 19
Duration:00:00:57
Chapter 20
Duration:00:01:18
Chapter 21
Duration:00:00:41
Chapter 22
Duration:00:00:18
Chapter 23
Duration:00:00:51
Chapter 24
Duration:00:01:09
Chapter 25
Duration:00:00:11
Chapter 26
Duration:00:00:33
Chapter 27
Duration:00:00:45
Chapter 28
Duration:00:00:46
Chapter 29
Duration:00:00:42
Chapter 30
Duration:00:02:00
Chapter 31
Duration:00:01:01
Chapter 32
Duration:00:00:39
Chapter 33
Duration:00:01:32
Chapter 34
Duration:00:02:08
Chapter 35
Duration:00:01:00
Chapter 36
Duration:00:00:43
Chapter 37
Duration:00:01:34
Chapter 38
Duration:00:00:33
Chapter 39
Duration:00:00:53
Chapter 40
Duration:00:01:59
Chapter 41
Duration:00:01:18
Chapter 42
Duration:00:01:10
Chapter 43
Duration:00:02:45
Chapter 44
Duration:00:02:47
Chapter 45
Duration:00:00:59
Chapter 46
Duration:00:01:28
Chapter 47
Duration:00:02:02
Chapter 48
Duration:00:01:15
Chapter 49
Duration:00:00:25