The Double Dutch Fuss: A Memoir

Baltimore Story Fest founder and creative director Branch gives an engrossing account of the pressures of performing masculinity while being gay in the 1980s and 1990s. As a child, Branch loathed playing catch with his browbeating father. Although he wanted to skip double Dutch rope with the girls, his father threatened punishment. At Hampton College, Branch felt the need to hide his sexuality to fit in with other Black men. It wasn’t until he moved to Los Angeles shortly after graduating that he slowly removed the mask he had hidden behind and grew into himself. Branch’s storytelling background is infused throughout his debut memoir. Each chapter flows seamlessly into the next as he recounts feelings of loneliness and frustration while pretending. Branch also discusses his complex relationship with his estranged father, who left the family when the author was 14. Moments of joy with his father are rare, but when they come, Branch’s happiness shines on the page.