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HListed Pick: Late Author E. Lynn Harris’ Leaves Lasting Legacy With New Book

When author E. Lynn Harris passed away suddenly of heart disease last July at the age of 54, his death shook the black publishing world. The author, who penned close to a dozen books, was one of the most popular Black authors who was best known for telling the stories of African-American men who were gay and/or closeted. He had more than 10 books on the New York Times bestsellers list. His success is often credited along with that of author Terry McMillan for opening the door for a generation of black authors to get book deals with major publishing companies.

At the time of his death, E. Lynn Harris had just completed and turned in his latest book, In My Father’s House, which was to be the first of a new trilogy. The book tells the tale of  Bentley Dean III, who hails from a rich family in Detroit who is ultimately disowned and left to fend for himself by his father after breaking off his engagement with an equally wealthy woman to announce that he’s gay. Dean leaves Detroit and moves to Miami where he launches a successful black modeling agency. When the agency hits tough economic times, Dean agrees to supply male “eye candy” for a VIP party hosted by a closeted Hollywood actor.  When one of the men he supplies (Dean’s own mentee, Jah) ends up in an unhealthy relationship with the Hollywood actor, Dean sets off to rescue the young man before it’s too late.

We got an early copy of the book and think it’s one of his best books. We thought we would provide you an excerpt of the book that we think sums up the power of his writing and his unique ability to capture the depth of emotions his often conflicted characters experience in a way that draws his audience in like no other writer of his time. The book will be in stores, on Tuesday, June 22nd. Click HERE to order.

In this excerpt, Dean is on the verge of coming out to his fiancee’, Kim:

The bottom line was she just didn’t have what it took to make me happy or keep me satisfied for a lifetime. I didn’t want to be one of those handsome newlywed couples in Jet magazine and have former lovers unable to contain their laughter while muttering, “Child, pleeze.”

So when she asked a seemingly simple question, the kind that would normally elicit an automatic answer from a man in the afterglow of making love, it had the opposite effect on me. In fact, her question hit me like a truth serum about who I really am. Sadly for her, “husband” is not the answer.

“Will we always be this happy, Bentley L. Dean?” Kim asked with her soft, after-sex voice. As she gazed at me, the black makeup smudged around her eyes intensified her pouty, sexy gaze that demanded an answer. Now.

“Probably not,” I replied quickly. The Musiq Soulchild CD had long since ended, so my voice echoed off the cream-colored walls and floor-to-ceiling windows. My words, sounding flat and listless, seemed to hang in the silence. Because I had no more energy to waste on trying to please everyone. It was time to please Bentley L. Dean III. And I refused to live like so many men I’d seen who were married and getting their gay groove on by creepin’ on the down low. Damn, I was sick of those two words. My father told us to always be proud of who we are no matter what people think. Maybe he said that because he was convinced that our family were descendants of the talented tenth if ever there were.

No, this is me. And the world needs to accept me as I am. I can’t live a lie.

But Kim wasn’t ready to hear that. I once heard my father say that sometimes the truth becomes the lie everyone agrees upon.

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