E. LYNN HARRIS American Authors Challenge May 2020

Our author for May, 2020, is E. Lynn Harris.

E. Lynn Harris was born Everette Lynn Jeter in 1955; upon his mother’s marriage to Ben Harris, Lynn’s surname was changed. His childhood was unhappy, as he was subject to abuse from this stepfather for years before his mother divorced the man. Lynn grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was popular in high school, and while attending the University of Arkansas he became that school’s first black male cheerleader, and first black yearbook editor. He struggled with his own sexuality, however, and suffered from depression, heavy drinking and suicidal tendencies before writing and self-publishing his first novel, Invisible Life, about a black man facing some of the same problems. He personally sold copies of his book by making the rounds of black-owned bookstores, hair salons and Atlanta book clubs. The novel was eventually picked up by Doubleday, and issued as a paperback in 1994. It was one of the first instances of a portrayal of life “on the down low”, a phrase that refers to black men who live an overtly straight life, but have secret relationships with other men. Initially Harris denied any autobiographical element in the story, because, in his words, if “you were African American and you were gay, you kept your mouth shut and you went on and did what everybody else did... you had girlfriends, you lived a life that your parents had dreamed for you." The positive response to his novel was such, however, that Harris publicly acknowledged that he was gay, realizing how important his work was to so many of those who had read it.

For the next 15 years, Harris wrote prolifically; was a guest lecturer at many colleges and universities, including Harvard, Spelman, Morehouse, the University of Tennessee and his alma mater, the University of Arkansas; and achieved a degree of success he had not imagined possible while he worked as a computer salesman for IBM, Hewlett- Packard and AT&T. Ten of his novels have made the New York Times best-seller list. They defy genre categorization---some editions have been marketed as romance novels, or as gay lit, but those labels minimize the substance of his work, which has been credited with breaking ground on a serious subject, helping to shatter taboos about sexuality in the black community, presenting characters and situations that are complex and realistic. His novel If This World Were Mine was awarded the James Baldwin Award for Literary Excellence. Harris himself has been memorialized on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument in New York City. He died suddenly of heart disease at the age of 54 in 2009.

GOT TO BE REAL sounded like the most intriguing E. Lynn Harris writing as he is partnered with three other Black men,
all writing "Original Love Stories." Very inviting.

Harris story, "Money Can't Buy Me Love," was definitely the most fun to read,
with actual suspense as the professor and the escort gravitate in unusual and unpredictable ways.

The other three stories were alternately lame, overlong, predictable, boring, or way too heavy on the F-word.

I can send my copy if someone can't locate one.

>2 m.belljackson: I'm glad it was the Harris story that appealed to you, if only one of the four was worth reading!

I've finished If This World Were Mine. The writing is quite good, some of the characters are very well drawn, and I am glad I read it, although I have reservations about a full recommendation. It is the story of a group of black college friends who establish a journal-writing "salon" later on in their lives, to share thoughts and feelings. Each individual has personality traits that are well-defined from the start, and each one undergoes some sort of transformation through the course of the story. The weakness I found in the book is that some of these transformations are a little too quick and easy, and while I like a neat and tidy ending, I don't want to get there by shortcuts. There are a few "outsider" characters who interact in intriguing ways with the main group, and a tricky ethical question that never gets properly addressed. I also found it a bit jarring that after no indication that this was coming, most of the characters seemed to get religion (or return to it) by the end. A fair bit of sexual activity, some crude language, and (from one character) racial hatred, may affect your mileage with this one. It won the James Baldwin Award for Literary Excellence, according to multiple sources, but all my googling skills have been unable to find any reference to such an award other than the ones related to Harris or this novel.

Has anyone else given Harris a try yet? Having trouble getting your hands on something?

>4 laytonwoman3rd: no library, no book. 😟

>5 fuzzi: I was afraid of that. I don't imagine a lot of our group already had Harris's books on the shelf. But the good thing is, this thread can stay open as long as we want it to....the time frame is a mere suggestion!

I finished Harris's Not a Day Goes By last night. I was... lukewarm about it. Full review here.

>7 lycomayflower: So, that's 3 people (counting myself) who have read something by Harris. I would really encourage the rest of ya'll to keep him on your radar for when it might be easier to get your hands on one of his books. He may not be your cup of tea, but you never know. His is a voice that deserves to be heard.

I promise there will be a Jean Stafford thread in the next day or so.

>9 laytonwoman3rd: thank you. I'm still waiting for the library to open...