Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780385512725
ISBN: 0385512724
Label: Doubleday
Manufacturer: Doubleday
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 296
Publication Date: 2006-05-02
Publisher: Doubleday
Release Date: 2006-05-02
Studio: Doubleday

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 bandmate 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, and up-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.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Mr. Harris, you have won me over with this one.
Comment: E. Lynn Harris, I Say a Little Prayer (Doubleday, 2006)

I wasn't quite understanding all the flap surrounding this book until very recently, when an African-American friend of mine who lives in California expressed outrage at the fact that Proposition 8 (the anti-gay-marriage proposition) was passed largely because, according to polls, seventy percent of the state's black voters turned out in support of it. Suddenly things got a lot clearer where I Say a Little Prayer is concerned, and I understand a lot more of the reason Harris felt compelled to write this novel. Like many others, I have to say I'm glad he did. This is quite a good little book, even if it does gets tangled up in its own message now and again.

The story focuses on Chauncey Greer, a bisexual black man who's decided that women are more trouble than they're worth, and so has decided to just date men. Problem is, he's got a bad relationship skeleton in the closet, and so these days his life, while successful on the outside, is littered with a string of unsatisfying relationships. Everything goes to hell when that old flame, Sweet D, arrives in town in order to recruit Chauncey to sing at a tent revival. Which is nothing too terrible--Chauncey and D were originally members of the same boy band--until Chauncey realizes that the minister holding the revival whips his members into a frenzy with his strong anti-gay agenda, and that D seems to be part and parcel of the anti-gay package. Clearly, there's a lot more going on under the hood than Chauncey had originally realized. In order to try and fight back against this hatred, Chauncey, in turn, tries to whip up his own congregation, but finds resistance there as well. What's a gay man--and a religious one, to boot--to do?

While Harris is pretty obviously on the outside of all this looking in, he refuses to give in to stereotypes most of the time, and draws his characters with sensitivity, be they gay, bi, or straight, and his plot is compelling enough that he could well just sit back and let the novel write itself, given the strong characterization. Unfortunately, he wants to dabble a time or two in speechifying, but that is little reason not to enjoy the rest of this novel. Homophobes will obviously have a problem with it, but recommended for everyone who actually has a shred of a brain. *** ½

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Conveys a good message
Comment: In the novel, I Say a Little Prayer, Harris introduces Chauncey Greer. Chauncey is Black, educated, successful, handsome, and bisexual. Set in Atlanta Georgia, the reader follows Chauncey in his quest for spiritual and emotional balance. The journey begins when Chauncey decides to reclaim a singing career that he left behind in his youth and what follows is a tale full of revealing sexual exploits, real life drama, and vivid church scenes. By the books conclusion, Chauncey comes face to face with his painful past and is left with the decision to either hold on or let go.

The Black community, homosexuality, relationships, the "down low", homophobia, and religious hypocrisy are just a few of the under tones of the novel. What is greatly admired is the fact that Harris tackles such social controversies and uses the novel to send a fundamental message. On the flip side, Harris' writing style appears a little lacking, at least in this particular book. The story just doesn't seem to flow and the dialogue isn't natural. Furthermore, Harris presents the reader with a cast of colorful personalities, yet fails to fully develop his characters leaving the reader with no real conclusion. Though certainly not a page turner, the storyline has enough plot twists to keep the reader interested. I would recommend the book for the message if not for the content.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: I Say a Little Prayer: A Novel
Comment: Ive been a little down on myself lately, spending too much time worrying about career and family. I decided to pickup this book that I've had on my desk for about 6 months on Friday night. I didn't put it down until about 5 am Saturday morning with a new found sense of hope and peace of mind. Like the old people say "TAKE IT TO THE LORD IN PRAYER" Thank you Mr. Harris for reminding me of that thru this enjoyable novel, it was right on time!!!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece - plain and simple!!!
Comment: Amazing!!! I Love how E.Lynn Haris keeps his readers up to date on all of his charaters. There is no one he won't touch with this novel. I was truely blessed by this fragile subject matter. "Does my love for God go away because I love men?" There are so many black men in churches all over the country wondering if God truely loves them. What if I like being BI sexual? Can I still live a life blessed by God? Harris, says yes!! Why not? When you think of all the young people in your church, ask yourself the same question.
This was a funny, endearing, supersing, and well thought out piece of life. HOLD ON, and Enjoy the ride!! You won't believe who you'll see along the way.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Hot Little Book
Comment: E. Lynn Harris is at again! It's been so long since his last book and again I wasn't disappointed...I mean the man knows how to pull you in and he keeps you there until your done...After that he has you wanting more from the characters he has introduced and I love the cross-overs from characters from his previous books...The only thing that gets me is why not write about totally gay characters and these so called men on the downlow or bisexual...We need more strong totally gay Black and Latino characters, so how about Mr. Harris can you deliver that to our community?

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