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Despite his literary focus on black, young, middle-class, urban professionals, Everette Lynn Harris and his three younger sisters were raised by their single mother, who worked in an AT&T factory in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was 14 when he first met his father, who was killed the following year. Harris said he fretted about his looks and lied about his sexuality for years before he was inspired to write about his experiences. His honesty and openness invite an unusual closeness between him and his readers.
After graduating with honors from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1977, Harris went to work as a sales executive for IBM. Five years ago, he quit his job as a computer salesman and used $25,000 of his own money to print INVISIBLE LIFE, which in the wake of the ensuing frenzy was published as a Doubleday paperback in 1994 and quickly soared to number one on the Blackboard Bestseller List of African American titles. JUST AS I AM, his second novel, made Harris the first male writer to have a number-one hardcover on the Blackboard list. His third novel, AND THIS TOO SHALL PASS, debuted on Blackboard at number one and spent nine weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. In 1996, JUST AS I AM received the Novel of the Year prize from Blackboard African American Bestsellers, Inc. An avid University of Arkansas Razorbacks fan and college lecturer, Harris lives in Chicago, where his literary success, which he compares to "walking through a dream," has allowed him to purchase a house for his mother. "That's the best part -- that I was able to do that for her." Read the text of E. Lynn Harris' online chat from BarnesandNoble.com dated Tuesday, September 23, 1997
Hardcover: 256 pages E. Lynn Harris has wowed and seduced more than three million readers
with the wicked drama and undeniable heart in his novels. Now he’s back
with another winner sure to top the bestseller lists—a rip-roaring tale
of sex, secrets, betrayal . . . and blackmail. In Basketball Jones, E. Lynn Harris explores the consequences of loving someone who is forced to conform to the rules society demands its public heroes follow. Filled with nonstop twists and turns, it will keep readers riveted from the first page to the last.
Hardcover: 336 pages Harris serves up a treat that will capture and enchant audiences
everywhere—a big, bold, and irresistible novel about football, family,
and secrets.
ISBN: 0385512724 Bestselling author E. Lynn Harris is back with another sexy, shocking, and immensely satisfying novel that explores some of today's toughest and most timely issues.
Chauncey Greer is the owner of Cute Boy Card Company, a thriving company in Atlanta. As a teenager, he was a member of a popular boy band, but left in disgrace when word got out that he and his band mate D were more than good friends. Chauncey is a free spirit, on the brink of forty with a body admired by both men and women. Not into being categorized, Chauncey's been known to hook up with men and women, but now in the age of the 'down low,' he's found that women ask too many questions, so he's just focusing on the fellas. After one too many bad dates, Chauncey finds himself in church where the minister's message inspires him to follow his dream of a singing career once again. Although he's lost touch with D, as he starts writing songs his thoughts inevitably turn to his former lover. Chauncey's powerful performance at the church earns him a standing ovation and an invitation to participate in an upcoming revival. But Chauncey soon discovers that an ambitious fundamentalist preacher plans to use the revival to speak out against gays and gay marriage. Feeling angry and betrayed, Chauncey and other gay members of the church decide to take a stand against the church's homophobia by staging a 'Day of Absence' when all of the gay members and their friends and family stay home. Everything is going as planned ...until D appears on the scene and Chauncey has to confront his past and make some hard decisions about his future. I SAY A LITTLE PRAYER is filled with the delicious plot twists, humor, compassion, andup-to-the-minute controversy fans expect from their beloved 'E. Lynn.' Harris has returned with another gem of a novel that will rocket to the top of bestseller lists nationwide.
ISBN: 0786713879 Freedom in this Village is the first book to chart the course of black gay male literature over the past thirty-five years. Beginning at the birth of Gay Liberation with the Stonewall Rebellion of 1969, editor and New York Times best-selling author E. Lynn Harris collects sixty entries, many never previously published. Fiction and poetry is matched in eloquence by nonfiction pieces, including essays and excerpts from memoirs, novels, biography, and autobiography. A new short story by E. Lynn Harris is featured, along with original work by twenty-five other authors. Among the roster of established writers are James Baldwin, Samuel R. Delany, Melvin Dixon, Peter J. Gomes, George C. Wolfe, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Hilton Als, Keith Boykin, Randall Kenan, Thomas Glave, James Earl Hardy, Brian Keith Jackson, Essex Hemphill (from whose poetry the title Freedom in this Village was borrowed), and the latest generation of writers who contribute fresh perspectives that choose to affirm rather than negate the interconnections between sex, race, and masculinity.
ISBN: 0385502648 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 with readers an extraordinary life touched by loneliness and depression, but more importantly, he reveals the triumphant life of a small-town dreamer who was able through writing to make his dreams--and more--come true.
Harris describes his memoir: “But my hope for this book doesn’t stop there. I think there is a message here for anyone who has ever suffered from a lack of self-esteem, felt the pain of loneliness, or sought love in all the wrong places. The lessons I have learned are not limited to race, gender, or sexual orientation. Anyone can learn from my journey. Anyone can overcome a broken heart.” —E. Lynn Harris
Format: Hardcover, 288pp. Zola Denise Norwood is a young hot editor in chief of Bling Bling, (the magazine “for people who want everything!) who’s at the top of her game, ruling the roost in business as well as the bedroom. Having discovered “the power of three” (not tying herself down to just one guy) Zola surrounds herself with a coterie of men : her best male friend, the gay Hayden; her Monday night man, Jabar, and enjoys stolen nights with married Bling Bling owner and media mogul Davis Vincent McClinton, a man who chases power at all costs…Still, Zola dreams of finding true love. Raymond Tyler, Jr., a favorite and classic Harris character has suffered a personal loss and picks up and moves to New York to re-build his life. As CEO of Bling Bling, Raymond struggles to enjoy his newfound success in business as he searches for love and meaning in his personal life. John Basil Henderson returns with a new lady in his life, and Raymond and Basil renew a friendship that is fraught with sexual tension. As Raymond examines his life and strains to move forward, tragedy strikes, and Raymond faces his biggest challenge ever. As Zola and Raymond search for a love of their own, several characters from the past make cameo appearances and round out another E. Lynn Harris classic tale. A LOVE OF MY OWN is filled with all the marvelous ingredients the author’s fans the globe over have come to love. Sit back and get ready as E. Lynn Harris takes you on another satisfying and rip-roaring ride.
ISBN: 0385469691 E. Lynn Harris's blend of rich, romantic storytelling and controversial contemporary issues like race and bisexuality have found an enthusiastic and diverse audience across America. Readers celebrate the arrival in paperback of his second novel, Just As I Am, which picks up where Invisible Life left off, introducing Harris's appealing and authentic characters to a new set of joys, conflicts, and choices. Raymond, a young black lawyer from the South, struggles to come to terms with his sexuality and with the grim reality of AIDS. Nicole, an aspiring singer/actress, experiences frustration in both her career and in her attempts to find a genuine love relationship. Both characters share an eclectic group of friends who challenge them, and the reader, to look at themselves and the world around them through different eyes. By portraying Nicole's and Raymond's joys, as well as their pain, Harris never ceases to remind us that life, like love, is about self-acceptance. In this vivid portrait of contemporary black life, with all its pressures and the complications of bisexuality, AIDS, and racism, Harris confirms a faith in the power of love — love of all kinds — to thrill and to heal, which will warm the hearts of readers everywhere.
Format: Hardcover, 272pp. Now, in Any Way The Wind Blows, Basil, good-looking gadabout and homme fatale is back at the top of his game (razzle dazzling both the women and the men) and hanging out with his new friend, and rogue's rogue Bartholemew (aka "Black Bart") a handsome hunk of a man who stands to make Basil look like a choir boy. All is well until Basil's picture perfect life starts to unravel... Is someone out to get the unsinkable John Basil Henderson?
Format: Hardcover, 208pp. About the Book From the Publisher
Publisher: Random House, Incorporated Available at last, E. Lynn Harris's beloved first novel in
a hardcover edition.
Publisher:
Doubleday & Company, Incorporated Read an AALBC.com Review by Paige Turner Synopsis
Paperback, March 1997, 352pp
Hardcover, February 1996, 320pp In And This Too Shall Pass, Harris takes us into the
locker rooms and newsrooms of Chicago, where four lives are about to intersect
in romance and scandal. At the heart of the novel is the celibate Zurich, a
rookie quarterback for the Chicago Cougars whose trajectory for superstardom is
interrupted by a sexual assault charge by Mia, a sportscaster with her own
sights on fame. With his career in jeopardy, Zurich hires Tamela, a high-powered
attorney, to defend him, while Sean, a gay sportswriter, covers the story and
uncovers his heart. All of these characters face the challenge of keeping the
faith - in themselves and in God - while Harris's heartfelt storytelling reveals
how the love of family can help one to face the terrible legacy of long-held
secrets. Throughout these characters' search for self-knowledge, Harris weaves
the stories of MamaCee, Zurich's grandmother, whose lessons of faith teach one
and all that "this too shall pass."
Publisher: Doubleday & Company,
Incorporated E. Lynn Harris has already made publishing history. No black male novelist has ever before sold as many copies of his book as quickly as Harris has. With a nine-week stay on The New York Times bestseller list last year and appearances on bestseller lists across the nation, his third novel, AND THIS TOO SHALL PASS, put Harris on the top of everyone's must-read list. Now, with more than a half-million copies of his three novels in print, comes IF THIS WORLD WERE MINE. This fourth work is a deft exploration of the ever-changing landscape of friendship among human beings, and in Harris's inimitable style, it reveals the story of a friendship that can -- and must -- survive the test of time and conflict in order to flourish. Yolanda, Leland, Riley, and Dwight share a deep friendship forged in earlier years at Hampton University. In monthly reunions set in their hometown of Chicago, the friends enjoy evenings of gossip, companionship, and laughter and often discuss private entries in their personal diaries as well as what they have written in their collective journal, which they call "If This World Were Mine." But after five years, the bonds of friendship are weakening, and the group must confront the challenges of work, lost love, and the affecting presence of a sexy stranger: gray-eyed John Basil Henderson, a character eerily haunted by his past. As the group members confront their true feelings toward each other, resentments and long-held secrets surface, and the stability of the group begins to falter. The disintegration of these complex friendships is halted by the specter of death, which forces the friends to recognize and accept the inner strength that they, as a group, have nurtured in each other. In this as in all of his novels, Harris never ceases to remind us that life, like love, is about self-acceptance. In this vivid portrait of contemporary black life, with all its pressures and the complications of bisexuality, AIDS, and racism, Harris confirms a faith in the power of love -- love of all kinds -- to thrill and to heal, which will warm the hearts of readers everywhere.
Marita Golden (Editor), E. Lynn Harris (Editor) ISBN: 0767910419 A literary rent party to benefit the Hurston/Wright Foundation of
African-American fiction, with selections to savor from bestselling authors as
well as talented rising stars.
Related Links E. Lynn Harris has work in Got to Be
Real: Four Original Love Stories E. Lynn Harris Homepage
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Just
Too Good to Be True
I
Say a Little Prayer: A Novel
Freedom
in this Village: Black Gay Men's Writing 1969 to the Present
What
Becomes of the Brokenhearted
A Love of My Own
Just
As I Am: A Novel
Any
Way the Wind Blows
Not
A day Goes By
Gumbo: A Celebration of
African American Writing
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