Eric Jerome Dickey (1961–2020)

This book was everything I needed and didn’t know I was craving.

Eric Jerome Dickey delivers a spicy, soulful, and sharply written story about three sisters navigating love, betrayal, and the beautifully complicated bond of family. Frankie, Livvy, and Tommie couldn’t be more different, but each of their stories is compelling in its own way.

Frankie is fierce and driven—but never satisfied. Livvy is stuck in a toxic marriage and making questionable decisions of her own. And Tommie... she show more tugged at my heartstrings the most, trying to rebuild her sense of trust and self-worth after being hurt. Dickey doesn’t shy away from showing their flaws, but that’s what makes them feel real.

The dialogue is witty and fast-paced. The drama is drama. And the humor catches you off guard in the best ways. I found myself laughing one page and wincing the next because these characters go through it.

But at its core, this is a story about sisterhood—the kind that holds you together when everything else is falling apart.

Perfect for fans of character-driven fiction with a touch of heat, a lot of heart, and a whole lot of truth. show less

Two biological sisters and a woman growing into a close friend kick their awful partners to the curb and find someone better. I picked this up after reading somewhere that Eric Jerome Dickey was known for writing three-dimensional women, and it is interesting that a male writer would place the men in the novel so far away from the center - even farther than the instrumental value in your typical romance novel (e.g. Terry McMillan's How Stella Got Her Groove Back).

There is a lot of internal show more and external dialogue - I agree with another reviewer that this feels like a screenplay. I'm always looking for a diverting story to read that doesn't require citation-following or an encyclopedic memory to understand the allusions, and this fit the bill. show less

Harlem: A Short Story by Jerome Dickey packs quite a punch. I'm not sure what I expected when I started Harlem, but this short story took me on a bit of a rollercoaster ride yet was woven together beautifully. Harlem's experiences landed in my body in unexpected ways making me feel like I was experiencing what he was while still also being detached from it which he also seemed to be at times. Dickey creates a world based in reality that feels all too real and yet somehow surreal at the same show more time. Harlem kept me invested until the very end and even left me wanting more. show less

The worst day of Ken Swift’s life begins with his long-estranged daughter Margaux attempting to blackmail him and continues as he and his best friend Jake Ellis head out on a job as enforcers for crime lord San Bernardino. While the underlying domestic drama and criminal enterprises move the plot, the question of what it means to be black in American truly drives this gripping narrative. Graham perfectly captures the rage and frustration of black experiences in the current social show more environment and prevailing political attitudes. As pressures mount, Swift and Ellis provide a retrospective of the black experiences in America, discussing people and events from distant history as well as events their own lives. Graham’s voice draws the listener across vast emotional landscapes: from Ellis’ playfully seductions to the gasping struggles of a drowning man and from Swift’s odes to the beauty of black women to deadly clashes with fists or guns. Lives are molded by love and violence. The accents Graham creates are as diverse as the black community in Los Angeles, including Mississippi born Swift and Ghanaian Ellis as well as Ethiopian and British. Graham maintains both the high-octane action and thought-provoking discourse. In the end, the novel showcases how life shapes bad men and wicked women, although understandings of “bad” and “wicked” shift as the truth is revealed.

The improved review was published in Booklist Online in February 20, 2019 issue. show less