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 titled ''I Don't Want to Die Poor'' (2020).

Early life

Michael Joseph Arceneaux was born April 12, 1984, in Houston, Texas, to a working-class Black family from Louisiana. His mother, a registered nurse, was a devout

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and Arceneaux was raised in the church, even briefly considering the priesthood. Arceneaux, from the

Hiram Clarke Hiram Clarke is an area in Houston, Texas, United States, southwest of NRG Park (formerly Reliant Park). History Hiram Clarke Road was named after Hiram Clarke, a Houston Lighting & Power Co. assistant general manager and executive vice president ...

community, attended

Madison High School Madison High School may refer to: * Madison County High School (Alabama), Gurley, Alabama * Madison High School (Idaho), Rexburg, Idaho * Madison Consolidated High School, Madison, Indiana * Madison High School (Kansas), Madison, Kansas * Kentuc ...

in Houston, then, on a combination of scholarships and student loans, enrolled at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

, where he majored in broadcast journalism and wrote for campus newspaper '' The Hilltop''. He graduated in 2007, becoming the first man in his family to graduate from college.

Career

After college, Arceneaux moved to Los Angeles where he began his writing career. He has written for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', '' New York'' magazine, ''

Essence Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...

'', ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'', '' Teen Vogue'', '' BuzzFeed''
Vulture
',

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

,'' ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' and ''

XOJane ''xoJane'' (also known as ''xoJane.com'') was an American online magazine from 2011-2016 geared toward women and founded by Jane Pratt and co-published by Say Media. Pratt was the founding editor of '' Sassy'' and '' Jane'' magazines. In less ...

'', as well as writing an advice column, called "Dearly Beloved", at ''Into''.

Books

''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 from Atria Books. The book debuted at number 14 on ''The New York Times'' best-seller list for paperback nonfiction. It focuses on his early life as a young Black gay man growing up in a religious household in the southern United States. The book's title arises in response to Arceneaux's

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; 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.'" 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. Reviewers have compared Arceneaux's essay collection to the work of

Roxane Gay Roxane Gay (born October 15, 1974) is an American writer, professor, editor, and social commentator. Gay is the author of ''The New York Times'' best-selling essay collection '' Bad Feminist'' (2014), as well as the short story collection ''Ayit ...

David Sedaris David Raymond Sedaris (; born December 26, 1956) is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay " Santaland Diaries.” He published his first c ...

, and

Samantha Irby Samantha McKiver Irby (born February 13, 1980) is an American comedian, essayist, blogger, and television writer. She is the creator and author of the blog ''bitches gotta eat'', where she writes humorous observations about her own life and moder ...

. In ''

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'', 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."

''I Don't Want to Die Poor''

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

References

Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to ...

'', July 23, 2018 {{DEFAULTSORT:Arceneaux, Michael Living people 1984 births Writers from Houston Howard University alumni American humorists 21st-century American essayists American gay writers LGBT African Americans LGBT people from Texas Former Roman Catholics Critics of the Catholic Church 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American people African-American male writers