I Say a Little Prayer: A Novel

I found E. Lynn Harris on Pearl Cleage's website. I'm a fan of Pearl Cleage, and she's a friend and fan of E. Lynn Harris, and I was very excited to see a black gay male author out there, so I immediately went looking for a book by him. And it was WONDERFUL. Chauncey Greer is a small (but growing) business owner and was once a singer in a boy band; he's also bisexual but leans gay, and this story details how he starts singing again and faces down a man from his past who has since turned into a preacher who speaks out vehemently against gay marriage. It's outstanding (and contains some lovely, smoking hot scenes), and it's the first time I've read a novel focusing on black gay characters, which rocked. I definitely look forward to show more reading more by this author. show less

This book was an enjoyable read with good writing and good stories. The novel combines personal and religious ethics with elements of a mystery. Harris used cleverly placed story's of relationships past to give the reader their characters history. Past collides with the present. I enjoyed the appearances of old characters, Yancey Braxton ("Any Way the Wind Blows") still a diva-wanna-be and John Basil Henderson ("A Love of My Own") appears to have grown into a better man. E. Lynn Harris remains true to himself by exploring topics that are controversial. The sex scenes are explicitly real but brief in nature. I look forward to his next novel.

While I have read several other books from this author, it's been a long time ago, so this was a pleasant surprise. I defintely had a love/hate relationship with the main character, but in the end, I had to root for him.

Chauncey, being something like a bisexual, tries to restart his singing career when he gets the chance to sing in church. As a religious man, this is a great opportunity to combine faith and his sexuality. But he has to face some demons of his past because the boy he once laughed has turned out to be a gay bashing bishop who is going to preach in his church. While struggling for his personal lifestyle and the right to laugh, Chauncey has to deal with the disappointment of his childhood laugh that has caused him to be a shallow lover instead of a loving partner. Now he has to make choices and to face his friends, his families and his past to be able to embrace his own future. Quite an enjoyable read!!

I Say A Little Prayer is the second E. Lynn Harris's book I have read. The first being Just As I Am. I know there are many fans of Raymond's series with Just As I Am being the second book in the series. Frankly, I prefer I Say A Little Prayer. I was happy to know that this book was written from only one character's struggle - Chauncey, who has to face the problems associated with a love from his earlier life. This is better compared to Just As I Am, which alternated each chapter with two lead characters. Another thing that makes me prefer this book than Just is that it is less depressing. 'Just' deals with AIDS, and I don't read to feel depressed. However, I find 'Prayer' a little too fast at the end, where the twist in the story is a show more little too much for me to digest. There is no reason why Damien's wife's past is not known by many, if she is painted to be such. Or even the sudden switch of her wanting to be 'evil'. Although I read only the second book, I would prefer there would be no 'special guest star' from his other books. Lame. Other than that, I found myself looking forward to spending time with the book, eagerly turning the page to find out what would happen next. show less

Typical but short book with some explicit gay sex, all set within a Black community. This story focuses on a successful youngish guy who was brutally dumped as a young man but a guy who is now riding anti-gay rhetoric to being preacher of a huge church & Senate candidate favored to win. The preachers evil wife gets involved, a congregation takes a stand, and a little positive progress is made.