Not a Day Goes By : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Payback
Review: I loved Basil's revenge on Yancy and it was interesting to read how much of a schemer she was. Well you know that old saying..what goes around, comes around and it came back to her in full force!! Basil is a character that has been in E. Lynn Harris' book starting from Invisible Life to this novel and I look forward to reading about him in the next novel to see what tricks he has up his sleeve.

Rating:
Summary: From Bad To Worse....
Review: As I've read E. Lynn Harris' novels over the years, I've noticed what I consider to be a significant decline in the quality of his novels. That is not to say that his first novels were worthy of being compared to, say, James Baldwin or Toni Morrison. However, what his first novels offered was a relatively sensitive portrayal of black gay (ok, bisexual) men. Invisible Life and Just As I Am were less soap opera and more novel. Sadly, with Not A Day Goes By, Harris slides even further into the abyss of cliche. His characters show astounding levels of stupidity and shallowness, and his plotting is more convoluted than an episode of the Young and the Restless or Dynasty. As always, Harris pays close attention to the indicia of his characters' social class and physique. Yancey was five foot eight and only one hundred and fifteen pounds? What does she eat? Bird food? Is she anorexic? Of course, Basil is fabulously muscular, handsome, etc., etc., yadda, yadda. To maintain a thin veneer of continuity, Harris throws in cameos by Zurich (as self righteous as ever and spouting platitudes worthy of Iyanla Vanzant on Prozac) and Raymond. Harris attempts to make Basil a sympathetic character; however, having no clue how to develop him as a real human being, he turns him back into a "dawg" at the end of the book. Great character development, right? Not. If you want to read a book about black gay men, this isn't the one. Go read Bil Wright's Sunday You Learn To Box or anything by James Baldwin. However, if you just want the literary equivalent of brain candy, this book's for you.

Rating:
Summary: Disgusted!
Review: I was so shocked to see this man give credit to Jesus Christ for helping him write this book, and claiming Jesus as his personal Savior. The book is full of homosexual relations and relations out of wed lock, both are absolutely, spoken against in the Bible. He also has profanity in it. It is a slap in God's face, and puts a very bad reflection on real Christians. I did not read the book, I do processing in a library and discovered this by accident. If this is a best seller, it speaks pretty clearly of what our society is.

Rating:
Summary: Very Good!
Review: This is another fantastic page turner that should be read by all. The characters flourish on the page and pull you into the story and make you wish it never ends. Great read!

Rating:
Summary: Appropriate Title
Review: The title of this book "Not A Day Goes By" could not have been a better one. Because not a day will go by that I won't scratch my head and wonder what the hell went wrong with this book! While it was an overall entertaining read it is certainly not the E. Lynn that I was expecting. It was great that he brought back Basil, Yancy and Ava however, the Ava/Yancy story is dead and needs to be put to rest. This book left far too many loose ends and some of them definitely needed to be cut tied and burned!This book while certainly entertaining is not thought provoking like all the previous novels. This one is definitely a light read.

Rating:
Summary: SCANTLESS!
Review: I think this one is by far the most juicy! I think the plots were excellent and this book is very easy to read. Yancey and Basil are perfect for each other whether they realize it or not. They both have skeletons in their closets that are screaming to get out. Some snuck out under the door, but I get the feeling that there could be a ...sequel???? This is definitely not movie material, but most definitely soap opera stuff. I read this instead of watching CBS soaps! Way to go E.Lynn Harris and I really enjoyed meeting you in College Park.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect Beach Read!
Review: I just finished Not a Day Goes By last night and I gotta tell you I enjoyed it immensely. Harris perfectly blends humor, passion and piercing insights into male-female relationships without losing his breezy writing style. I thought the main characters, Yancey and Basil, maybe could have been more fleshed out in terms of character-she seemed like a diva from Melrose Place, he appeared to be a sex-driven jock-but what I found refreshing was what I did learn about those two. I thought it was quite daring to have Basil struggle with being molested and bisexual, while Yancy has a daughter she gave up for adoption. The book then goes into soap-opera plotting with hidden tape recorders and thoughts of revenge on both Yancy and Basil's minds, which leads to the end of the book, which I thought was intelligent and realistic. All in all, not a great book, but I'll definitely read whatever Harris writes next.

Rating:
Summary: Great Job
Review: This book really took me full circle and I am happy that the story of Basil is over and done. I like the way he brought back all the characters to let you know that everyone was well and good. Yes, Yancey got what she deserved and Basil is still out there somewhere. This was really easy to get into and keep your attention. Great Job.

Rating:
Summary: Simply Delicious
Review: Well E.Lynn, ya did it again!!!!! Personally for those of us who read Abide with Me, I felt all Yancey got was some real serious payback....Ummm. But for some reason, I began to understand why she did the things she did. AVA!!! Now that woman is a piece of work. She had no business being a mother from the start. It's like the Bible talking about the sins of the parents falling on the next generation. Moving on here, I got the book from a coworker, and I read it within a day..No kidding, I really enjoyed it.. However, although E. Lynn wanted to stop Basil, I don't think he will because now I am wondering about the aftermath for Yancey now. Perhaps Winsdor will buy those Iyanla books now. Bottom line,it is simply delectable,delicious and definitely ALL THAT!!! And E.Lynn really looked good on the cover too. Basil got to work on those bisexual issues of his.He is in deep denial.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: E. Lynn Harris out did himself for the fifth time...This book is a easy read. Once I started reeading I didn't want to put the book down. The dialogue was explicit. In reading his books I discover a new outlook about sexuality,deceitfulness and the struggle of overcoming your intermost secret. I know there will be another book to follow, I don't think Basil is done yet.