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Award-winning debut author, four-time Moth StorySLAM winner, and Lambda Literary Fellow
“Funny, soulful, absolutely unafraid to look life in the eye, Molly McCloy’s tough and tender voice is addictive. An electric debut!”—Michelle Tea, author of Knocking Myself Up
A raw, defiant, and darkly hilarious queer memoir that traces nine pivotal moments of childhood trauma, blending humor, heartbreak, and resilience to illuminate the power of forgiveness, identity, and queer joy amid family dysfunction.
On the cusp of her 1993 college graduation in Olympia, Molly McCloy spends her time drunk and high, pulling dykey pranks, and thrashing in mosh pits—anything to avoid the troubled, working-class family she left behind in Arizona. But after a vivid nightmare involving her dad, Molly writes him a letter, asking him to apologize for nine instances of mental, verbal, and physical abuse. To her surprise, her dad writes back. Nine Grudges is the story of Molly’s nine heartbreaking moments, her humor as a coping strategy, and her queerness as a source of joy. Celebrating dark victories snatched from the jaws of trauma, this book asks whether grudge-wielding is an act more powerful than forgiveness itself.
“Nine Grudges grabs hold of you like a best friend ready to divulge terrible, wonderful secrets. Funny, soulful, absolutely unafraid to look life in the eye, Molly McCloy’s tough and tender voice is addictive. An electric debut!”
—Michelle Tea, author of Knocking Myself Up
"In her Gen X memoir, McCloy delivers a vulnerable and often hilarious account of growing up with a "powder keg" father. Through vivid vignettes, she has us feeling the feels and ducking the punches alongside her and her two brothers. A story of rage and redemption, Nine Grudges reminds us that love, forgiveness, and a wicked sense of humor can heal any wounds, even grudges lugged around for the better part of a lifetime."
—Jen Sincero, NYT Bestselling Author of the You Are A Badass series
"This is more than a memoir; it is a testament to the departure from trauma's clutches. McCloy shows us the way by magnifying her working-class queerness with brilliant writing. This is a lasting document that will always rise above the pile of books long after we are all gone. I laughed as much as I gasped and finally had no choice but to cry, as only the best writing is capable of making us do."
—CAConrad, Listen to the Golden Boomerang Return
"Nine Grudges shouldn’t be funny, but it is simultaneously hilarious and chilling. Like Dorothy Allison in Bastard Out of Carolina, McCloy has a powerful voice, a poet’s ear, and amazing recall."
—Ann Cummins, Red Ant House and Yellowcake
Molly McCloy is a four-time Moth StorySLAM winner and Lambda Literary Fellow. She won the 2023 Book Pipeline “Unpublished” contest for nonfiction. Her work has been featured in O magazine, excerpted in the Blue Mesa Review and Foglifter, and broadcast on The Best of Risk! podcast. She earned an MFA from The New School and teaches writing for the awesome students of Pima Community College. Reveling in the bright sunshine of a joy she once thought impossible, Molly lives in Tucson with her wife Rebecca and their dog, Princess Pinwheels of the Purple Mountains.