“The author shows the triumphs and tragedies of living in the ghetto.” –Ebony Magazine

Not since the Native Son has a young black man written so eloquently about the experience of growing up black, poor and male in urban America. 

Clarence Nero, hailed as “one of our most promising young authors,” by Maya Angelou, is a native of New Orleans’s lower Ninth Ward that was demolished by Hurricane Katrina. He graduated from Howard University with a B.S. degree and worked as a chemist in the forensic department of the District government in Washington, D.C. before getting the bug to write. Nero was nicknamed “Cheekie” and grew up in New Orleans’ infamous Desire Housing Project, where drugs, violence and poverty defined the way of life. His first novel, Cheekie: A Child Out of the Desire, a story loosely based on his childhood, was nominated for “Best Books for Young Adults,” by the American Library Association and selected as “One of the Best First Novels of 1998,” by Library Journal. 

Nero has been interviewed on major radio stations, including CBS and NBC affiliates in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Atlanta, Washington, Tulsa, and National Public Radio. He has also been interviewed in publications and newspapers, including, The Times-Picayune, Baton Rouge Magazine, Howard University Magazine, City Paper in Washington, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Winston-Salem Chronicle.

A former middle school teacher in Washington, D.C., Nero has traveled throughout the country speaking to teens and adults alike about the problems most threatening to this generation. From the high rate of black men in prison, to teenage pregnancy and AIDS, Nero tackles these critical social issues with deep, personal insight

His writing has been endorsed my numerous writers including Dr. Maya Angelou, E. Lynn Harris, Ernest Gaines, and Omar Tyree. In a recent review of his new novel, Three Sides To Every Story, Publishers Weekly, says that “Nero deploys three deftly drawn narrators to tell a wrenching story of desire and survival.” 

Nero is currently an M.F.A. candidate at Louisiana State University where he teaches Creative Writing. He resides in Baton Rouge. Visit him at www.CLARENCENERO.com

Three Sides to Every Story
Click to order via Amazon

ISBN: 0767921364
Pub. Date: October 03, 2006
Format: Paperback, 352pp
Publisher: Broadway Books

Three Sides to Every Story is a love triangle that unfolds in the voices of Johnny, Tonya, and James. Johnny and Tonya are high school sweethearts whose dream of a life together is shattered when Tonya is assaulted. Johnny, in revenge, beats her attacker and is imprisoned.

At first, Tonya stands by Johnny, but eventually finds comfort in a rapper's arms. Meanwhile, in prison, Johnny meets the openly gay James. What begins as a friendship soon evolves into an intimate relationship, a sexually passionate romance that is cut short when James is released on parole. A year later, Johnny leaves prison haunted by his feelings for both James and Tonya.

Their lives are turned into emotional roller coasters as each one tries to come to terms with what they really want. Inviting comparison to E. Lynn Harris and J. L. King, Clarence Nero creates an utterly compelling narrative while illuminating the social and sexual challenges young urban black people face today.

“Nero kicks it off the hinges with this bold new urban drama.”
—Omar Tyree

“The idea of the story is wonderful—man and woman have problems told from each other’s point of view. Then a third character comes into the story to ‘clear up the mess.’ This is not my generation, but I must admit that it held my attention to the end.”
—Ernest Gaines

“One of our most promising young authors.”
—Dr. Maya Angelou

Cheekie: A Child Out of the Desire
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Hardcover: 276 pages
Publisher: Council Oak Books; 1st ed edition (April 1998)
Language: English
ISBN: 1571780637
Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches

The Desire project in New Orleans, once the pride of public housing, was home for Cheekie, as it had been for his parents and grandparents. But now, in the 1970s, the Desire has degenerated into a world of violence, drugs, and poverty. Still the project is full of life as well, and of people whose vibrant energy, love of fun and ties of family help them to transcend their oppressive surroundings. Cheekie is a young man's day-by-day account in the honest voice of a boy growing up in the Desire. Cheekie brings it all to life - the abuse and the love, the neglect and the nurturing, the violence and the inspiration through which a child came to manhood.

Related Links

Clarence Nero's Official Website
http://www.clarencenero.com

 

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