The Song of a Manchild

Rating:
Summary: Embarrassed to admit that I read it!
Review: This should not have been called "Song of a Manchild." This is the cackle of a coocoo bird, the screech of a looney tune. I'm all for artists' pushing the envelope for their audiences, especially when it comes to gender and sexuality, but this is just goofy and a big, old joke!
Black gay men face ridiculous amounts of racism and homophobia. Many people in this country are fighting tooth and nail to keep gay marriage illegal. Yet in this book, no one cares that a man is getting pregnant besides the character that is supposed to be his life partner. If people are afraid about men acting "outside of their traditional roles" how likely are they to be non-plussed that a black man is pregnant?
In this book, it's implied that pregnant men look like men with beer bellies. Pregnant women don't look like non-pregnant, fat women. If a man were pregnant, John and Jane Doe would notice and be shocked beyond belief about it. Still, here, the main character isn't thought of as an oddity by anybody. What world do these characters live in?
The main character asks a guy, "How do you know you haven't been with a pregnant man before?" Later, a flirtatious store employee says, "Pregnant guys are the hottest!" Did I go to sleep for 20 years? What place has multitudes of pregnant men? How can this be portrayed as not hyperfantastic?
The main character's best straight female friend gives him an egg as easily as someone would help another person put on their earrings. Extracting eggs from women is difficult. That's why female infertility is more difficult to cure than male infertility. That's why more couples choose surrogate mothers than get extracted eggs. Again, totally unrealistic!
The main character and the guy on the book cover have gym-chiseled bodies. The book is filled with anecdotes of both men and women flirting with the main character. What is the likelihood that a muscular man would allow himself to become pregnant and not be scarred by losing admirers of his physique?
I really think this book is a disturbing attempt to overturn "Roe v. Wade." The character recalls that he has a view about abortion that I am almost positive no teenaged boy would have.
This book is just scattered with black gay men making stupid choices. One character refuses taking AZT though it could extend his life and reduce his AIDS-related symptoms. One character purposely becomes HIV-positive. He even celebrates it as a type of "pregnancy." At a time when black gay men are dying from disproportionate number of AIDS, this was scary to me as a reader. This author is being absolutely irresponsible. This book is downright dangerous.
His lover speaks completely in hip-hop jargon, yet he's supposed to be a successful real estate agent in the Bay Area. He's supposed to be masculine (read: butch) yet he's constantly watching E!, the cable channel. He doesn't support the main character's pregnancy, yet the main character decides to name "their" son after him. This couple goes from barely speaking to each other to getting married out of nowhere. I have never heard of a fictional couple more in need of serious counseling, yet it never takes place here. The main character barely mentions doing actual work at his job, yet he can spend $6,000 in one visit to a baby's store.
One of the first things the main character mentions is that he saw and loved the film "Before Night Falls." He is constantly checking out and flirting with Latino men. Black-brown romance is rarely brought up in fiction; that was refreshing to see. However, the main character repeatedly disses or rejects Latino men and stays true to his black boyfriend though he's not a very good partner. Latino readers may be offended by gay LatinO portrayals here.
The author peppers the book with scandals and music from 1999 to 2001. This gave a realistic flavor to the book, though it also seemed like a long product placement.
Vernacular that is probably rich and touching in real life comes off as poor writing here. The main character has dreams that are nothing but page filler. He asks long soliloquies of questions. Unlike with Shakespeare, it doesn't work here; again, it's just page filler. The ending is rushed.
This is not a strong first novel. Like many black gay men, I am desperate for writing that reflect my live and those of my brothers. This does not happen in this book. There are so many realistic topics to bring up about black gay men, yet the author chooses this ridiculous route. I feel sorry for the GBM authors that haven't gotten published when this has.
This book takes a circuitous route in thematizing the issue of rebirth. However, it is done poorly here. I doubt any reader will want to take a new direction in his life after reading this text. This is not redemptive; it's just silly.