I set out to write a story for me . . . that would capture the pain and joy of being black and gay. I wanted it to be a love story, Harris says in explanation of his first novel, Invisible Life (1991), which he wrote after years of alcoholism, joblessness, and depression, and after losing friends and a successful lifestyle that once included driving a Mercedes (later repossessed). Raised just a step above welfare in Arkansas and repeatedly and brutally beaten by his stepfather, Ben, Harris for decades carried deep-seated feelings of inferiority and anxiety about being born out of wedlock, about being poor, and about being different, which he later learned consisted of being gay. His young manhood was a series of drunken flings punctuated by occasional, ill-fated romances that left him ever lonelier and more tearful in his quest for love. When the deaths of friends spurred him to write, the creative act helped him mature into the confident, best-selling author he is now. His fans will embrace his fast-paced memoir eagerly, and then be caught up in this engaging writer's engagingly told life story. --Whitney Scott Copyright 2003 Booklist

Harris is one of America's top writers, chronicling the experiences of gay and heterosexual African Americans through books such as Invisible Life and Just as I Am. His first nonfiction offering provides listeners with a glimpse into his life, starting with his childhood in Little Rock, AR, with an abusive father and loving mother. The author discovers his sexual identity in high school and college and has bouts with depression and alcohol abuse. Harris pulls no punches, and listeners will want to reach out and touch the little boy who must deal with the daily whippings from the man who turns out to be his stepfather; the young man who wants to find love with another man but must hide his feelings from other blacks at his college; the man who goes into sales at IBM and deals with the pain of disastrous relationships with drinks and late-night parties; and the man who realizes that writing his story can help his people learn the truth about the homosexuals they live with and love. Read by Richard Allen, this wonderful book is full of passion and joy and provides a message of hope to those within the gay community and those fighting depression. For all libraries, especially those with collections in African American, gay, lesbian, and transgender studies and in mental health.-Danna Bell-Russel, Library of Congress (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

With his bestselling novels (And This Too Shall Pass; Abide with Me; etc.) Harris has carved out a niche as a writer of jaunty books with melodramatic plots, usually centering on gay or bisexual black men with riches and rippling biceps. In stark contrast, Harris's memoir is free of the fancy trappings his characters enjoy, starting with the author's suicide attempt in 1990, before he decided to become a writer. From this beginning, Harris goes back to his birth in 1955 and proceeds chronologically, detailing abuse by his stepfather, the awakenings of sexual desire for other men and the discovery of his biological father. Some passages ache for more detail, as when Harris offhandedly mentions working in a brothel at age 13. More often, though, the pace is fitting, giving the book a sense of forward motion as strong as the thoughts of young Harris, dreaming of escape from his native Arkansas. Although he suffers traumas and frustrations as a child, Harris's love life is most heartbreaking. His struggle to find love as an African-American Southern man led to a series of disappointing relationships that taxed Harris's tenderhearted, affectionate nature. He tells this part of his story with such simplicity and straightforwardness, it seems distilled, stripped down to its barest elements until only the clearest emotions remain. Readers of Harris's novels should be surprised at how far from charmed his life was, compared to the troubled but ultimately blissful lives of his fictional characters. Yet they should appreciate the deep honesty with which he describes each stumble and fall. (On sale July 8) Forecast: All of Harris's books have enjoyed runs on national bestseller lists, and this memoir will undoubtedly do the same. Doubleday has issued a CD with a sample chapter read by the author, and a tour and ubiquitous media coverage should yield hearty sales. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved