Rating: Summary: An inspiring and revealing memoir Review: No, it's not a cheerful book. It's not as engaging as many other memoirs, and certainly not as engaging as most of the author's fiction. A good editor might cut it in half and make it better. Throughout the book, there are lines, sentences, and paragraphs that made me stop and pause and wonder (and that's a good thing). This author overcame many obstacles -- not just the "typical" obstables that we associate with race and poverty, but also the additional stigmas of being gay AND depressed. For me the epilogue was especially inspiring; I wished the author had included more information about his writing, and about events after his first novel was published. I liked this book.
Rating: Summary: Big Disappointment Review: Readers looking for the opportunity to get an inside look at Harris' life will probably end up disappointed. As the creator of such saucy and intriguing tales one would imagine the same from his memoirs. Instead it is a prolonged tale of a really depressed and confused person. I guess this credits Harris' creativity as a writer and shows that his novels are not just retales of his life. I think that I kept reading this because I was waiting for it to get interesting...but it didn't. In any case kudos to Harris for putting it all (or most of it) out there in print.
Rating: Summary: Like Only E. Lynn Can! Review: The emotional, and touching memoir that entertains, intrigues, and answers the question offered in its title. E. Lynn Harris does storytelling like no one else. His memoir shares parts of his life that allow his fans to understand and connect with him; as well as feed them clues as to who some of the popular and cherished characters from his book may be; not to mention, giving a little taste as to the role they play in his personal life. If you've liked Harris' other extraordinary works, you will love What Becomes of the Brokenhearted. I did.
Rating: Summary: Belabors the Bad, Skimps On the Good Review: The title of Harris' memoir would lead a reader to believe that Harris will be sharing a journey. He doesn't do this, but rather belabors the many downs of his pre-1991 life and then tacks on an epilogue from 2003 about how much better things are now. Case in point, we wander through 200+ pages of a book reading about how desperate the author is for love, and getting detailed stories of the men he loved who treated him shabbily. Then we are told in the 2003 epilogue, "I have love in my life, that's all you need to know," and that he's been with the same undiscussed, undescribed partner for a decade. Similarly, after witnessing his aimlessness and detachment from various jobs, we see only the very beginning of his writing career before the memoir stops, then we find out in the tacked-on epilogue that he's sold millions of books. Why can't we go along for the ride? As usual, Harris' writing is largely unimaginative but the subject matter was intriguing enough to keep me turning pages. Leaving the reader with an entire missing DECADE in a memoir, however, is hardly good writing.
Rating: Summary: The Real Deal on Brokenhearts Review: This book is phenomenal. E. Lynn Harris has done it this time. Not again, but this time. This is his first non-fiction work and I am sure the hardest for him to write, but Mr. Harris has carried this one off like the champion that he is. What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted is a book that should be used in substance abuse rehabilitation programmes as it can be the light at the end of the tunnel for some broken soul who has lost their way, or who thinks that it is just them. Social issues like physical abuse, alcoholism, depression, loss of loved ones and coming to know one's sexual identity are addressed as only Mr. Harris can address them. This is a must read, but one can only fully enjoy this work of art if they have followed E. Lynn Harris from Invisible Life. A fine work.
Rating: Summary: Couldn't stop reading! Review: This book opened my eyes. This book made me realize that no matter how rough I think life may be, things have a way of working out once you follow your heart and have faith. E. Lynn has done it once again. This man is truly blessed. The book kept me wanting more.
Rating: Summary: A BOOK YOU DON'T WANT TO PUT DOWN Review: This is the first E. Lynn Harris book I've read - I TOTALLY ENJOYED IT!! I am always looking for a GOOD book that I just can't put down and this was it. It gave me more of an understanding about the "Gay" life. It also MAKES ME WONDER -ARE THE MEN I SEE EVERDAY THE MEN I THINK THEY ARE?:-) BUY IT!
Rating: Summary: A BOOK YOU DON'T WANT TO PUT DOWN Review: This is the first E. Lynn Harris book I've read - I TOTALLY ENJOYED IT!! I am always looking for a GOOD book that I just can't put down and this was it. It gave me more of an understanding about the "Gay" life. It also MAKES ME WONDER -ARE THE MEN I SEE EVERDAY THE MEN I THINK THEY ARE?:-) BUY IT!
Rating: Summary: Must Read Review: This memoir is a must read. It will have you experience an array of emotions ranging from anger to sadness to and joy. Get in tune with your life or someone you know by reading this book.
Rating: Summary: Romance novel come to life Review: This was the first book I read by E. Lynn Harris and it will be the last. It reads like a cheap romance novel, all action and trite physical description. There are hundreds of names dropped, many for no reason other than to establish the author has many friends. The author seems to have little insight into his life. He never addresses the real contradiction in his life: from the earliest scenes to the latest, he is blessed with great support, great achievements, and substantial luck, which he consistently fails to make any use of. Where is the person who is so successful at getting jobs and friends, and why is this super salesman spectacularly unsuccessful at even hooking up with anonymous strangers (when others do not seem to have this problem)? In a novel, the character wouldn't make sense, and I couldn't buy him in an autobiography, either. What does he offer in friendship that keeps his friends providing him with housing, money, even a listening ear? Why do people with his resume in hand offer him jobs-do they never check references? When his breakthrough into sobriety and finally writing comes, it seems an random as all the other events in the book, based largely on an unexplained, unexamined connection. There are many compelling questions to answer about homosexuality/bisexuality in the black community-about the process of overcoming early poverty and abuse, about overcoming depression and substance abuse, about friendship and taking chances and following a dream-and none of them are going to be answered by E. Lynn Harris.
|