Sink

A Memoir

By: Joseph Earl Thomas

Narrated by: Joseph Earl Thomas

"A brilliant and brilliantly different" (Kiese Laymon), wrenching and redemptive coming-of-age memoir about the difficulty of growing up in a hazardous home and the glory of finding salvation in geek culture.

Stranded within an ever-shifting family’s desperate but volatile attempts to love, saddled with a mercurial mother mired in crack addiction, and demeaned daily for his perceived weakness, Joseph Earl Thomas grew up feeling he was under constant threat. Roaches fell from the ceiling, colonizing bowls of noodles and cereal boxes. Fists and palms pounded down at school and at home, leaving welts that ached long after they disappeared. An inescapable hunger gnawed at his frequently empty stomach, and requests for food were often met with indifference if not open hostility. Deemed too unlike the other boys to ever gain the acceptance he so desperately desired, he began to escape into fantasy and virtual worlds, wells of happiness in a childhood assailed on all sides.

In a series of exacting and fierce vignettes, Thomas guides listeners through the unceasing cruelty that defined his circumstances, laying bare the depths of his loneliness and illuminating the vital reprieve geek culture offered him. With remarkable tenderness and devastating clarity, he explores how lessons of toxic masculinity were drilled into his body and the way the cycle of violence permeated the very fabric of his environment. Even in the depths of isolation, there were unexpected moments of joy carved out, from summers where he was freed from the injurious structures of his surroundings to the first glimpses of kinship he caught on his journey to becoming a Pokémon master. SINK follows Thomas's coming-of-age towards an understanding of what it means to lose the desire to fit in—with his immediate peers, turbulent family, or the world—and how good it feels to build community, love, and salvation on your own terms.

©2023 Joseph Earl Thomas (P)2023 Grand Central Publishing

Critic reviews

"Joseph Earl Thomas has created a narrative that reads like a request and loving demand. Sink is a new kind of memoir, remixing the best parts of the genre. Though cohesive, the chapters in Sink are brilliant and brilliantly different. Thomas uses the act and politics of oration to move us within the silences of desire. It’s the way Thomas narrativizes encounters that make this book different than any memoir I’ve read, but also, so more propellant than any memoir in recent years. It is criminal and absolutely delicious that Sink is a literary debut. It is stunning in its audacious goodness."—Kiese Laymon, award-winning author of Heavy

“Sink is a singular memoir; all blood and nerve and near-unbearable beauty. A brilliant and f--king fearless debut.”—Carmen Maria Machado, award-winning author of In the Dream House

"Joseph Earl Thomas’s Sink is a powerful, moving, and artful testament to the sustaining powers of the imagination. This compelling coming-of-age memoir is often brutal but also loving; it’s at turns critical, empathic, funny; it’s searching and revelatory the whole way through. Joey is a narrator for the ages, a boy whose unforgettable story dares expanding the possibilities of Black male identity."—Mitchell S. Jackson, award-winning author of Survival Math

a beautifully and humorously told story

I highly recommend this listen. The author manages to tell a painful story without losing humor. He gets at complexity through the vivid specificity of a child's memories. Hearing the memoir read in the author's voice makes it an even more intimate experience.

Great memoir

I loved the writing here, and while the material is difficult, the skill is evident in each painful word. As a gay man, I have never read/heard “f****t” so often in a work that has no gay people in it, which disturbed me as I presume it was meant to do. I yearned for the redemption of m/m love in the face of such wanton and pointless violence between men/boys, but the tenderness here is more fragile and painful than in fiction

On your own terms…

Joseph Earl Thomas shares a series of moments for the reader to hear his younger self call into focus experiences that crystallize the urgency to protect the beauty he creates in this world via his voice—vividly narrated. Every page has us gripping onto how he makes it through the scene.

Disturbing and Sad

I applaud the author for getting his story told and I hope it brings him some catharsis. It is hard for me to understand how anyone could treat children the way folks did in this world. And the way the children treated each other was no better. Heartbreaking. The story didn’t leave one with much hope for the future. But apparently the author turned things around for himself or he wouldn’t have been able to write the book. I would love to see some of the author’s artwork he made during his life. I wonder if he saved any of it. I think art is possibly the thing that saved his soul. As for the narration, his voice was, unfortunately, quite monotone, which made it hard to stay alert while listening.

Difficult but beautiful

This is now in my top 20. I will be purchasing a book copy to keep on my shelf. The content was difficult, to put it mildly. The way he told the story and his insights were beautiful. I will be listening to his next book after I give myself a break and listen to a fluff, no pulling on my heartstrings, no crying in the car, book. I want to recommend it to everyone because of the writing, but will only recommend it to people who are able to handle the content. As for the performance, I would listen to any audiobook he reads.

Amazing Experience

The poetry and agony in this author’s words broke my heart and filled me with amazement at his ability to survive and overcome experiences that would have broken me. This is a must read - well-performed and exquisitely written.

Decent story, monotone narration

The book was okay. I almost didn’t finish it. The narration was unengaging and made the story a bit difficult to follow.

Fulfilling, Inspiring, Mesmerizing

A rare beauty, a tragic upbringing, making me marvel at a soul who seeks peace, with maturity and thoughtful wisdom. The words are as exquisite as a tender symphony, although there is little tenderness to provide a melody or harmony. But Mr. Thomas has narrated one of the most profoundly beautiful and touching stories of his life.
Don’t let this unique, rare voice pass you by.

I wish Audible posted warnings!

This book is so full of vulgarity that 9 minutes in and I deleted it!. I couldn't tolerate that the "F Word" and so many more were used. Don't waste your time.

Did not like.

Ghetto, and sad because it seems to me that the author was happy to tell this story of rape, prostitution child abuse. Eating bugs/roaches turned my stomach. I did not like this book. I couldn't even finish it.