commitment to realism, which became Harris’s
niche, allowed him to credibly introduce, in a non-
threatening manner, the spectrum of homosexu-
ality found in the black community and to create
what is now a familiar cast of characters, voices,
and circumstances in his successive novels.
Just as I Am (1994) a sequel, reintroduces Ray-
mond Winston Tyler, Jr., who is on a quest to define
and discover his true sexual orientation amidst ris-
ing confusion about the AIDS epidemic and media-
hyped stereotypes of black Americans. Narrated
by Nicole, Tyler’s girlfriend from Invisible Life, the
novel establishes Harris as a competent author ca-
pable of creating a credible “black” woman’s voice.
Harris is equally successful in boldly exploring the
theme of homosexuality among professional ath-
letes, faith in God, and commitment to the truth,
central themes of And This Too Shall Pass (1996).
Emphasis on these themes is, perhaps, Harris’s way
of convincing his readers that black gay men often
lead ordinary but complex lives.
However, Harris is not always as successful with
the general treatment of his male characters. He
sometimes employs elements of escape or fan-
tasy that prevent his characters from confronting
real dilemmas and otherwise life-altering experi-
ences head-on. For example, in Not a Day Goes By
(2000), although an incestuous experience between
John Basil Henderson and his uncle is mentioned
in passing, readers are left to ponder how ‘sexual
molestation by a much beloved uncle’ (7) helped
shape Basil’s life and character. This unaddressed
and unanswered question leads readers to wonder
why this sexual violation is mentioned in the first
place. Further, the novel opens with Basil cowardly
backing out of marriage during a telephone con-
versation. Although this might be a good hook to
get readers to turn the page, Basil’s fickle behavior
extends throughout the novel, preventing readers
from seeing him, in the end, as a well-rounded,
complex character.
Despite Harris’s commitment to realism, fan-
tasy seems to dominate his works on many levels.
In this sense, Harris’s novels provide an escape for
his readers, not unlike many romance potboilers.
A majority of Harris’s readers do not live as extrav-
agantly as do his characters. Hypothetically, how-
ever, Harris may be exploring, through rich details,
particularly those of wealth and success, how de-
tached or invisible individuals like Basil, an NFL
player living a double life, are. On the one hand,
Basil lives as a heterosexual male who is engaged
to be married; on the other hand, he is a closeted
homosexual male trying to find his identity.
Harris understands that diversity is the fabric
of American life. His fiction, written with love
and compassion, renders honest, if not always to-
tally complex, black male homosexual and female
heterosexual characters to a broad readership. Yet
Harris is dedicated to strengthening the gay and
lesbian literary pallet, as is shown by his four nov-
els written between 1997 and 2001: If This World
Were Mine (1997), Abide with Me (1998), Not a
Day Goes By (2000), and Any Way the Wind Blows
(2001). In 2002, he published his eighth novel, A
Love of My Own, in which he seems determined to
remind readers that, despite the escapism found in
his work, he remains committed to creating cred-
ibly lived lives—not ones that are merely shrouded
in fantasy. In Say A Little Prayer (2006), a humor-
ous novel, Harris explores the experiences of black
gays and lesbians in the black church.
With just two novels to his credit, Harris be-
came the first black male author to reach the top of
Blackboard, the best-seller list for African-Ameri-
can writers. Harris received a NATIONAL ASSOCIA-
TION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE
Image Award nomination and a James Baldwin
Award for Literary Excellence in 1997 for If This
World Were Mine. In 1999 he was awarded the Dis-
tinguished Alumni Award from the University of
Arkansas, Fayetteville. In 2002 Harris received the
Writers for Writers Award from Barnes & Noble
for his E. Lynn Harris Better Days Literary Foun-
dation, whose goal is “to provide new writers with
guidance and assistance in publishing their works
so that society is exposed to and enriched by the
works of these authors.”BIBLIOGRAPHY
Greene, Beverly. Ethnic and Cultural Diversity among
Lesbians and Gay Men: Psychological Perspectives
on Lesbian and Gay Issues. Vol. 3. Thousand Oaks,
Calif.: Sage Publications, 1997.Harris, E. Lynn 237