Book Description

Ray Charles (1930-2004) led one of the most extraordinary lives of any popular musician. In Brother Ray, he tells his story in an inimitable and unsparing voice, from the chronicle of his musical development to his heroin addiction to his tangled romantic life.Overcoming poverty, blindness, the loss of his parents, and the pervasive racism of the era, Ray Charles was acclaimed worldwide as a genius by the age of thirty-two. By combining the influences of gospel, jazz, blues, and country music, he invented, almost single-handedly, what became known as soul. And throughout a career spanning more than a half century, Ray Charles remained in complete control of his life and his music, allowing nobody to tell him what he could and couldn't do. As the Chicago Sun-Times put it, Brother Ray is "candid, explicit, sometimes embarrassing, often hilarious, always warm, touching, and deeply human-just like his music." ... Read more

Reviews (11)

In his own words.
Warning!: if people are honest you might hear some things you'd rather not read. In this case however, it does mean that through Ray Charles' own words we hear about his life up till 1978 when the book came out.

His youth was hard, becoming blind around age 7, going to a special school and losing his mom when she was only in her thirties were hard. Music is of course the theme that runs through it all, though I personally would have liked to have read more about the musical side of his life than the two things that make up an important part of the book: heroin and sex.

He seems to have been addicted to both but he has always said that heroin was his own choice and that he wasn't pushed into it by other people. That makes it all very openhearted and in a way bearable. The part where he decided to stop smack is heartbreaking and genuine.

He also talks lightly about his blindness, which is great, you forget most of the time that he couldn't see a thing.

The ghostwriter himself has carefully written that Ray himself went over the pages time and time again so we can be pretty sure that everything in it is true to his heart.

We could have done with some more musical history, but it's a great book to read nonetheless

This man's life is summed up in one word: WOW!!!!
when i started reading, "BROTHER RAY" i knew i was in for a treat. This man has lived a life that was worthy of a movie. this autobigraphy had me jaw dropped and blushing. one thing, Ray Charles was definitely something else. His music was his lifeblood and the women was his pulse. the heroin abuse was something he wanted to do and eventually stopped doing. the book was raw, honest, and to the point. you felt his passions, his hurt, his triumphs and his downfall. i loved every juicy tidbit of this book. it's the kind of book that had you thinking about it days after you have read it and you talk about it with your friends and family (my cousin told me i have become obsessed with Ray Charles!) all i know is that i want to read it again. i'm gonna give my self a few weeks and i'm going to give it a second read. MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

One in a million
I'm not much for most autobiographies. Most seem to be self-serving, consequently less than accurate in description. This is truly an exeception. Revealing all of his motivations, weaknesses and failings, you'll see Ray Charles as you've probably never thought of or seen before. I'm sure Brother Ray could have include more about his life and times and attitudes, however, when the story finally closes, you'll feel that the perfect ending note was hit, once again.

Charles
I dislike Charles because it didnt catch my attension.It was not a really good bookI think.

The best partof book I read was when Charles kick the teachers friend because he got mad at the teachers friend.Charles did alot of bad things in this book.he also through chalk at kids.

The setting of charlesbasically was atcharles schoolin the 1990s but also his friend house and the charcters to this story was charles hi friend ,his friends my dad & mom,the princapal,teacher and teachers friend.

An in-depth set of insights into his life and thoughts
Fans of the late Ray Charles will delight in this classic autobiography of the legend, which is reprinted in a new edition including co-author David Ritz's essay on Charles' last days. If it's only one Ray Charles book you're buying, and you want an in-depth set of insights into his life and thoughts, it should be Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story. Competing Ray Charles biographical titles provide photos; but it is this highly recommended memoir which provides his personal story in his own voice and from his own perspective.
... Read more

Book Description

cenes of Instruction is the memoir of noted scholar of African American literature Michael Awkward. Structured around the commencement ceremonies that marked his graduations from various schools, it presents Awkward's coming-of-age as a bookish black male in the projects of 1970s Philadelphia. His relationships with his family and peers, their struggles with poverty and addiction, and his eventual move from underfunded urban schools to a prestigious private school all become parts of a memorable script.

With a recurring focus on how his mother's tragic weaknesses and her compelling strengths affected his development, Awkward intersperses the chronologically arranged autobiographical sections with ruminations on his own interests in literary and cultural criticism. As a male scholar who has come under fire for describing himself as a feminist critic, he reflects on such issues as identity politics and the politics of academia, affirmative action, and the Million Man March.

By connecting his personal experiences with larger political, cultural, and professional questions, Awkward uses his life as a palette on which to blend equations of race and reading, urbanity and mutilation, alcoholism, pain, gender, learning, sex, literature, and love. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Lessons in Autobiography, Gender, and Race
Michael Awkward's memoir is instructive--in numerous ways: it contains insights on how to write memoirs, especially if one is a scholar/critical theorist; it instructs us on the intersection of race and gender (Awkward is a self-described black male feminist--raised in Philadelphia); and it shows us how we might bring postmodern forms of analysis to the stories we have lived. The central "other" in Awkward's book is his mother. With great insight, he shares the pain of her life, and his related pain, with the reader. This book is a powerful gift; I have learned much from it. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Details of E.E. Just
Black Apollo of Science, The Life of Ernest Everett Just in my opinion is a very excellent portrail of the complicated and exciting life of one of the leading black scientist of the early 20th century.If you are serious about learning every detail about E.E Just, then this is the book for you. It is the story of his life which goes from his early life and struggles togain an education to hi later life where he fights to give other AfricanAmericans the opportunity to recieve a quality education.Although most ofhis life commitments were based to further the education of AfricanAmericans, he also had his own personal motives.He was a dedicatedresearcher who was not afraid to express his opinions at whatever cost itwas, personally and professionally. This book offers great motivation toanyone that is fighting against the norms and against dicrimination.Irecommend it to scholars as along to layman that wish to learn more aboutAmerican scientifc history. ... Read more

Book Description

This generous, representative sampling from the daybooks of Carl Van Vechten, one of the most significant figures of the Harlem Renaissance, is a rich resource and major reference tool for reconstructing the culture of 1920s New York, the social milieu during Prohibition, and more. Bruce Kellner has provided copious, informative notes identifying central figures and clarifying details.

Between 1922 and 1930, Van Vechten kept a daily record of his activities. Not exactly diaries, but more than appointment books, the daybooks record his daily comings and goings as well as the alliances, drinking habits, feuds, and affairs of a wide number of luminaries of the period. They catalog tales of bootlegging, literary teas, shifting cliques of artists and writers, cabaret slumming, sexual and social peccadilloes, and a seemingly endless sequence of parties. ... Read more

Book Description

This classic paperback is available once again- and exclusively-from Harvard University Press. This book is the story of the life of Nisa, a member of the !Kung tribe of hunter-gatherers from southern Africa's Kalahari desert. Told in her own words -- earthy, emotional, vivid -- to Marjorie Shostak, a Harvard anthropologist who succeeded, with Nisa's collaboration, in breaking through the immense barriers of language and culture, the story is a fascinating view of a remarkable woman. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman
A read for everyone, especially for mothers, lovers and laid back women...Nisa is an exceptional woman. As for Majorie... she tells and writes Nisa's life story so well. I am buying more of this book as gifts for my friends: male and female.

Nisa is a great account of a life in a nonwestern culture!
Nisa! This book is a perfect book to invest in and read if you are interested in a constructive perspective of any kind of ethnography...... I highly recomment reading this book with the constant reminder of how you live your own life...

James Vasillios Constantine
great book, havent read it, but i feel it is a great account of an indian woman trying to please her peeps. Mad love to you all. Mom dad, aundrea catherine, and alex, I love you all and I hope you like this book. Our culture!

enjoyable reading
This book is a very enjoyable reading but the reader should be warned not put too much trust in Nisa's words. This is not hard science. Nisa might have had an agenda of her own. She might have been careful enough to tell Shostak only what she wanted to hear. Shostak, after all, have been paying her for those interviews, and if Nisa hadn't fulfilled her expectations then she would have been fired. Don't we all tell our bosses what they want to hear? The author admits she interviewed many other women but somehow she didn't like what she heard and decided to drop them. Maybe Nisa was the only one who was smart enough to manipulate Shostak into continuing to employ her by twisting her stories to make them sound spicier.
It is quite unfortunate that the reader can only guess what were the exact questions asked by the author. My guess is that the story was heavily manipulated by those questions. The excessive sexual content of the stories may be nothing more than reaction to Shostak's blunt questions about sex. In the Epilog of the book Shoskak admits that her reputation among the !Kung was that of a woman who only cares to talk about sex.
It is quite unfortunate that the book focuses too much on the sexual experiences of !Kung and doesn't reveal much about their psychology. Even their sexual life is described rather superficially. We learn nothing about the courtship process among those people. The reader may get the impression that a !Kung woman will have sex with anyone who brings her meat.
One cannot blame Nisa if she exaggerated in her stories. She did it for food. It was up to Shostak's to find a way to collect as much accurate information as possible. Unfortunately, I was left with the impression that she lacked the necessary skills and experience for the job.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading the book. It has its own charm. I hope my criticism will not prevent anyone from reading it because it has a lot to offer. The reader can still learn a great deal about the life of the !Kung and maybe something about the way our ancestors lived. This book is highly recommended for all who are interested in human evolution and psychology.

Not bad, but ultimately dissapointing.
If you are interested in !Kung, San, or other Bushmen peoples, you should definitely read this book. It is a highly informative account of the !Kung way of life. On the other hand, if you are looking for a great story, stick to Harry Potter. Nisa's commentary usually goes like this: "We lived and lived until I did this and then I did that again and the result was bad again." This is simply a characteristic of the !Kung oral tradition, but it will not appeal to many Western readers. I'm not just saying this because I think the !Kung language is inadaquate; in fact, story telling is probably very entertaining to the !Kung themselves. Something is lost in the translation.

One reviewer mentioned that the !Kung are a primitive culture. I have to whole-heartedly disagree with that statement. The Kung have a highly developed culture. Their food production method is "primitive", meaning that it has largely been replaced by agriculture/domestication/industry in most cultures.

One of the points that turned me off was that Shostak's study is partly an attempt to justify, or at least explain, the Feminist movement (she admits it). Here she is mistaken. The !Kung do not represent a historical ideal. The !Kung are NOT what "we once were." Granted, they share a common FOOD PRODUCTION method as my ancestors, but that does not necessarily mean that they lived like my hunting and gathering ancestors.

In the end, this book is unsatisfying because Shostak cannot confide in Nisa. She says that, at the end of her stay, she could still not trust Nisa. Gift giving attempts were not reciprocated and she questioned the truth of Nisa's accounts. Some might find this interesting, but it left me feeling like I had been cheated in some way. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent portrayal of JL's life and times
This is an outstanding book. It's enlightening entertaining and very enjoyable. JL's life from early childhood in Alabama to his youth in Detroit is clearly written. His amateur career is well documented as are all his professional fights. His boxing coterie and family life are also well drawn. I didn't know much about JL before reading this book, but I came away liking him very much and obviously respecting his boxing abilities. Mr. Bak has written an instructive and very enlightening book. ... Read more

Book Description

The Pulitzer-Prize winning columnist for the Chicago Tribune presents a series of essays examining the central questions of race, gender, and ethnic identity that have emerged since the civil rights reforms of the mid-1960s. The essays address such topics as how racism still acts to keep nonwhites in subordinate political, economic, and social status; how the hip-hop generation has turned -black is beautiful' on its head; and the volatile relationship between blacks and Jews. Page reflects on changes in the racial landscape since the 1960s and reconnects the increasingly abstract political debates about black conservatives, affirmative action, and the race card to the people for whom these words mean something more than just votes. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

america is not a melting pot but a mulligan's stew !
what i loved about clarence page's book is it's very readable. i read it in 2 days and was able to grasp the concepts that he put forth in his tome. race is a subject that has baffled blacks and whites for ages; even our most intellectual peers are dumbfounded about how to confront this hydra. page shows us that by confronting race,we can get past race : we can begin to establish a dialogue between each other. page calls for blacks to get out of the "victim " mentality and take advantage of the opportunities available to african-americans. he also encourages blacks to build themselves up intellectualy and use their intellectual talents to survive in america. page then tells whites that they must get beyond their fear of black people and learn more about them and their culture and also be eager to embrace multiculturalism as a start to overcoming racial woes. the book is flawless ! what really startled me was page stated that in present-day america, most ethnic groups have begun to segregate themselves; blacks, primarily because they are tired of learning about whites and trying to relate to them in order or survive ( it has never been vice versa ! )and whites, because they are tired of defending themselves as not being " racist. " i have always been a cosmopolitan person, willing to learn from any culture and to love people simply as people. judging by the number of reviews of this book, i doubt if a lot of people will ever read it or take page's advice. it did my heart and mind good to discover it.

Great reading; very real; very informative.
Found book to be very enlightening and imformative; easy to read, understand, and relate to. Says what needs to be heard; unfornately many who need to hear aren't listening.

A must read for every white person in America!
Clarence Paige is a voice of wisdom in a discussion often dominated by the most strident, offensive voices. He pulls no punches about what race means in America, yet he offers hope. I plan to buy multiple copies to give to all of my friends, black and white, who often seem baffled or hopeless about the future of race relations in this country. ... Read more

Book Description

Why did Barry Sanders, one of the absolute greats in NFL history, retire when he was within reach of breaking the all-time rushing record?In BARRY SANDERS: NOW YOU SEE HIM, Barry explains for the first time anywhere what led him to make the biggest decision of his life.Also included is a bonus DVD packed with highlights and footage of Barry’s explosive on-field performance from his youth football days to his Heisman Trophy-winning years at Oklahoma State to his incredible pro career with the Detroit Lions.

Written with Barry’s life-long friend Mark McCormick, BARRY SANDERS: NOW YOU SEE HIM provides insight into who Barry Sanders really is:an incredibly gifted athlete, a dedicated family man, and a deeply private and spiritual person.For the first time, readers will learn about his struggles growing up, his often trying relationship with his father, and the painful loss of his beloved sister, Nancy, to whom the book is dedicated.It also chronicles his amazing, record-breaking football career, from fighting to earn a place on sports teams due to his size to his rise as a grid-iron legend.

"…I left on my own terms and I’m living on my own terms," says Sanders in the book’s final chapter.He says of his life since leaving the game, "I like to think that I’m good at balancing things and excelling at more than one thing at a time.I’m certainly trying to do that."

Only five years after leaving the sport, Sanders’ legacy cannot be forgotten.Among the many milestones during his stellar career, Sanders:

• Won the NFL Rookie of the Year and MVP awards

• Was named to the Pro Bowl nine times

• Rushed for 2053 yards in a single season

• Went 803 consecutive carries without a fumble

• Registered ten consecutive 1000+ yards per season and so much more.

BARRY SANDERS: NOW YOU SEE HIM allows football fans a rare glimpse behind the records and accolades, into the heart and mind of a man for whom adversity was as commonplace as setting records and scoring touchdowns.With tremendous candor, Barry Sanders tell his story the only way he knows how—with honesty, passion and a directness not found in other sports autobiographies. It also include original commentary from former teammates Kevin Glover and Lomas Brown, his former coaches, Wayne Fontes and Dale Burkholder, and former opponents Louis Oliver, Emmitt Smith and Mike Singletary. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Now You See Him...
Although a bit pricey, mostly because it's produced on slick paper and contains a bonus DVD, this is a well-written "autobiography" that gives one insight into Barry Sanders. From his parents, to growing up, high school, and his college and pro careers, Barry takes us through some of this thoughts and feelings through each stage of his life. What this book could have used more of is some insight on what it is really like to play in the NFL and some of the seamier sides he alludes to but never provides details of. And of course, he finally answers the question all football fans have been asking since his retirement-why?

The DVD is not very good, by the way. It's a pretty boring collage of famous runs and career achievements. They could have done much more with it.

Barry Sanders story...short and sweet
The newly elected Hall of Fame running back, Barry Sanders, was always a man of many words and his recently released autobiography is fitting in its 139 page, picture-filled 8 x 10 work.
If a picture says a thousand words, than the included 19-minute DVD featuring Sanders and his accomplishments is worth a million and add visuals to the former Detroit Lion running backs accomplishments.
"Now You See Him..." is the entire life history of Sanders, the people that shaped his life and his accomplishments along the way, from North High School, Oklahoma State University and his only NFL team, the Detroit Lions.
Sanders writes of his football beginnings and the beginning of his doubtful beginnings in football due to his small stature. Sanders admitted being shorter, but always faster.
His high school football career was stunted (pun intended) as he played behind older brother, Byron, and was not utilized as a tailback until his senior year and after a coaching change.
Sanders writes of himself as being a team player, foregoing a chance to take the state rushing title after he had 262 yards in the final season game. His coach gave him the option of securing the title, but deferred to his teammates playing.
Surprisingly, Sanders was not highly recruited and took the opportunity to rush for the Cowboys at Oklahoma State University, again behind a superb back, Thurman Thomas.
As the third pick in the 1988 NFL draft, Sanders began his 10-year career with the Detroit Lions, playing under Wayne Fontes for 8-years and Bobby Ross for two turbulent years.
Moving through the to later chapters the reader discovers Sanders' thoughts about the pressure of surpassing Walter Payton's rushing record as the former Chicago Bear was dealing with his own life-threatening illness.
Sanders explains his side of retirement in chapter 15 "I Knew it was Over," explaining the Lions 5-11 season, consistent troublesome negotiations regarding his renewed contracts and the direction of the team.
Sanders includes his retirement letter, sent to the Wichita Eagle, but expands on his disgruntlement with Detroit general manger Chuck Schmidt.
What the book may be lacking, the DVD adds, but does not totally save the book.
The 19-minute DVD includes television footage of Sanders as his best, utilizing his "jump back" style of running in high school, college and the NFL.
If after 139 pages you are not impressed with Sanders, his life and career, the DVD is a waste. If you are a fan of Sanders, his team and his skill, the DVD is a great highlight film included with the book.
Sanders is soft-spoken in his words about his career, his teammates and his competitors. His book is easy to read, picturesque and his DVD inclusion technologically innovative, similar to his running style.

Barry Sanders, the Great Writer.
Barry Sanders is perhaps the next coming of James Joyce. If you don't believe me, just take a look at her brilliant command of prose. It flows ever so delicately through the travails of her life. The language has such a rhythm that is unparalleled by contemporary literature. Five stars. A-plus.

A Detailed Look at a Modest Man
Barry Sanders tells of his life, including his tenure as a Detroit Lion, in this semi-autobiography. Certainly most people who want to know why Barry walked away from football will buy this book, but the book does not focus just on his decision to leave the game. Barry writes about his childhood and the influence his religion and parents would have on his life; his mother was a loving, caring woman, and his father was a stern, hard-working man who always said that the greatest running back ever was Jim Brown. He details his life through college football as an Oklahoma State Cowboy, the NFL, and up to the present, where he has settled down with a wife and a son.

Barry always made certain when playing football that he never lost track of his goal as a player: to win the game. He passed up on achieving personal records many times because he simply did not value them enough; all he wanted to do was win the game. Whenever he ran with the ball, his goal as a running back was to run toward the end zone any which way possible. He mentions in the book that his father told him to run like a scared rabbit when playing football, and watching the footage on the DVD, that is just what he did.

It is unfortunate that there are not that many players of Barry's caliber in professional sports today, and by "caliber," I do not mean that the players should be tantamount in playing ability; I mean their approach to the game and the ultimate goal they should strive for, winning the game. Certainly there are some who are primarily team-oriented, but unfortunately they do not receive the media attention in this era where individual achievements seem to be held in an inordinately high regard. Whenever Barry scored a touchdown, he did not do an end zone celebration or spike the ball; he simply handed the ball to the official. Many NFL players receive attention for their bizarre end zone celebrations, but Barry Sanders showed everyone that great players do not need to get attention. If someone is great, he does not need to do anything more than be great to be recognized.

What Makes Barry Run!
Barry Sanders jitterbugged his way into my world in 1988 as he dismantled by beloved Cowboys in the Holiday Bowl. I thought then what a terrible defense we had that day, only to learn later on how wrong I was. What a great back this Sanders is!

He is the greatest so far. I've seen them all: Brown, Horning, Sayers (he could have been if injury hadn't cut him short; also from Kansas--what have they got in their water there?), Payton, Emmitt, et al. This guy for me was the player (as so many others have said) one would pay money to see him run!

Speed, explosiveness, elusiveness, power, vision. More important, couple this with his personal temperament: a true anti-celebrity. A true good guy, a Christian athlete. An honest man. A family man. This is role model stuff formed by the Creator God Himself, whom Barry gives all the credit.

The book is very well done. Not by some known-name author, but Barry's friend Mark E. McCormick who does an excellent job outlining this exciting life and reporting it as it would seem Barry would: few words, to the point, tell it like it is. So there are a couple typos. Makes it more authentic for me! It speaks of what he feels like before, during and after a run. What is all this talk in some other reviews about nothing revealed really worth reading? What is missing is normal super=jock stories of ego and media hype, etc. Hand the ball to the ref in the endzone, pick up the Heisman, thank the Lord. Thanks Barry and Mark McCormick. You did it right!

The DVD I find exeptional. Especially thankful that less than more of his dismantled of Wyo is not shown. Some of the runs, e.g. one against da Bears is awesome, but there are others as well. Especially like the spin moves and neat straight arm. This guy could hit as well as dodge. He had it all. He was the best.

Revealing that what many thought was true and it is neat that Barry lets it out: for some weird reason, the Lions slowly dismantled the team that could have. . . We're all still hurting and depressed and ticked off at that. But the memories of Number 20! Boy what a treat!

Barry, thanks for your stuff! Especially that about your Mom and sister, Nancy. And your honesty about the child out of wedlock and abstinence film, etc. You are what the young studs need to hear about and from. God blessed you enormously and you're a man who doesn't forget who got him where he is.

To our Lord Jesus may His blessings continue to pour down upon you and yours! Run on! ... Read more

Book Description

For almost a decade, beloved storyteller E. Lynn Harris has welcomed you into his family with his passionate, warm and trail-blazing novels. Now, he invites you into the most intimate world ever--his own.

Since his first book Invisible Life was published in the early 1990s, New York Times bestselling author E. Lynn Harris has wowed, charmed and romanced millions of readers.As a master storyteller, E. Lynn Harris has created an intimate and glamorous world centered around his signature themes of love, friendship and family. People all over the world have fallen in love with his characters and laughed and cried with them.

Now, in his most daring act yet, E. Lynn Harris writes the memoir of his life–from his childhood in Arkansas as a closeted gay boy through his struggling days as a self-published author to his rise as a New York Times bestselling author.In What Becomes of the Brokenhearted, E. Lynn Harris shares an extraordinary life touched by loneliness and depression, but more important, he reveals the triumphant life of a small-town dreamer who was able through writing to make his dreams–and more–come true. ... Read more

Reviews (40)

A Page-Turner Destined to Be a Book Club Hit
E. Lynn Harris's novels about black middle class homosexual and heterosexual life have captured the fancy of thousands of readers. His success is remarkable because his honesty about gay, bisexual and "confused" African American men hasn't turned off women readers and has sparked discussion about male secrecy, sex and lies.

Many of his readers, myself among them, have wondered about the relationship between Harris and Raymond Tyler, the protagonist of his first novel and some of his subsequent work. Because the novels are written in such a straightforward, conversational tone, it's easy to imagine that the author is telling his own thinly-veiled story.

With his new memoir, WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKENHEARTED, Harris both dispels and confirms the questions about whether or not Raymond is really his doppelganger. As Harris tells it, Raymond's perfect middle class upbringing with loving parents is a far cry from his humbler and, often, more cruel beginnings. But the character's life experiences closely mirror those of the author's adult life, including their search for love, sex, and a path out of depression.

Like his popular novels, Harris's memoir is a page-turner that feels more like a long, confessional letter or an all-night conversation. Its principle merits are as a record of the modern gay black man's experience and an insider text for his legions of fans.

Having read all of Harris's novels, I was very curious about the who's who aspect of his memoir and pleased to meet some of the real-life people who inspired his fictional characters. However, his conversational style was sometimes disappointing because the memoir occasionally fails to fully explore various experiences. And while it seems he wrote some of the last pages earlier this year, Harris chooses to keep some secrets to himself. Unfortunately for the reader, he only hints at the happiness he has found in the last decade and keeps those tales undercover.

His honesty about battling depression and "lying Lynn" are also important aspects of his story. As his novels forced women to face facts about male sexuality and gave gay black men their own serial, his memoir will help raise the veil from the issue of depression.

Harris's first nonfiction work will likely be another book club and talkabout hit. Hopefully, it will also open hearts and minds as his novels have for the last decade.

--- Reviewed by Bernadette Adams Davis

What Becomes of the Brokenhearted : A Memoir
Harris is one of America's top writers, chronicling the experiences of gay and heterosexual African Americans through books such as Invisible Life and Just as I Am. His first nonfiction offering provides listeners with a glimpse into his life, starting with his childhood in Little Rock, AR, with an abusive father and loving mother. The author discovers his sexual identity in high school and college and has bouts with depression and alcohol abuse. Harris pulls no punches, and listeners will want to reach out and touch the little boy who must deal with the daily whippings from the man who turns out to be his stepfather; the young man who wants to find love with another man but must hide his feelings from other blacks at his college; the man who goes into sales at IBM and deals with the pain of disastrous relationships with drinks and late-night parties; and the man who realizes that writing his story can help his people learn the truth about the homosexuals they live with and love. Read by Richard Allen, this wonderful book is full of passion and joy and provides a message of hope to those within the gay community and those fighting depression. For all libraries, especially those with collections in African American, gay, lesbian, and transgender studies and in mental health

Humble beginnings
E. Lynn Harris gives the reader a thorough background understanding of where he was born, to whom, and his struggles to overcome feelings of inferiority & insecurity. What's missing is how he became a writer and what drove him to write. Most of his adult career was as an IBM and computer sales rep, which was a surprise, but it's not until near the end that he discusses writing and publishing.

The first half of the book is very engrossing, as he talks about his two fathers and his mother. But the second half does not divulge much about the man. He discusses going to college, dating, and successes as a school office holder. His homosexuality is widely known. He recounts chance encounters, pickups, lovers, heartbreaks, it's almost like reading a romance novel. Surprisingly, he glazes over the AIDS epidemic and how it effected he and his friends. Only 1 page is devoted to AIDS. The second part could have been more poetic and in-depth.

A BOOK YOU DON'T WANT TO PUT DOWN
This is the first E. Lynn Harris book I've read - I TOTALLY ENJOYED IT!! I am always looking for a GOOD book that I just can't put down and this was it. It gave me more of an understanding about the "Gay" life. It also MAKES ME WONDER -ARE THE MEN I SEE EVERDAY THE MEN I THINK THEY ARE?:-) BUY IT!

ALL THAT AND A BOWL OF GRITS & BACON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MR. HARRIS HAS DONE IT AGAIN.......... THE BOOKS THAT YOU HAVE WRITTEN HAVE INSPIRED ME TO WRITE. WHEN I FIRST BOUGHT THIS BOOK, I CRIED. I HAD A VISION THAT THIS MIGHT BE THE LAST GREAT WORK FROM A GREAT MAN... THEN I THOUGHT, THATS JUST CRAZY.. WHY WOULD A WRITING LEGEND GIVE UP AT HIS HEIGHT OF GREATNESS...THATS WHY I READ THE BOOK AND CRIED SOME MORE AND THEN I REALIZED THAT E. LYNN HARRIS IS A STRONG FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH FOR MANY YEARS/DECADES/CENTURIES TO COME. IF YOU KEEP IT COMING, I'LL KEEP BUYING........ THANK YOU FOR ALL THE INSPIRATION.. MAD LOVE FROM YOUR #1 FAN....LOVE FROM DOWN SOUTH! ... Read more