I used to see E. Lynn Harris books in the African-American section of local bookstores, decades ago, and have leafed through several. I was always captivated by the chatty language and frank discussions of sexuality but never actually bought one. He's something of a local legend, having gone from selling books out of the trunk of his car (because publishers were scared of stories about black bisexual men) to finding his audience and becoming a NY Times bestseller. When he died a few years ago (too young sadly) and I read the eulogies I remember being very impressed at his achievements. So I decided to remedy my lack of E. Lynn Harris books, starting with Not a Day Goes By. It was a hell of a lot of fun, and drastically, refreshingly different from the usual m/m style and plot.Not that this is m/m romance. Not at all. It's centered around the relationship between a bisexual man and a straight woman, and it's a romance-in-reverse: it starts off with a happy couple and ends with them… not so happy. I don't consider that a spoiler, by the way, since the book opens with a wedding being called off.All these characters are well-off ex-sports-stars and entertainers, and the whole Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous vibe turned me off in the beginning, especially with the long interior decorating lists I had to suffer through. But I still got hooked. Our two leads, Basil and Yancey, are not nice people. In fact, they're both vain, shallow, manipulative ASSHOLES. I kept wanting to hate on them for being such soap-style villains, and then a little character detail would pop up to humanize them, and I'd feel sorry for them. Each has an acquaintance who's just a little bit worse—Basil's homophobia-spewing partner Nico, Yancey's raging narcissist of a mother—and also one who's a little bit better. Basil, for example, meets someone who's reconciled his sexuality with his religion and morality, and is determined to live his life with total integrity. And Yancey has her roommate Windsor. The part where she tells Windsor to lose weight if she wants to be a bridesmaid, and Windsor calmly replies, "No thanks, I'm happy with my body," was awesome.Even with the telegraphed conclusion, the plot kept up a fantastic amount of suspense. I found myself shaking my head at quite a few OH NO YOU DIDN'T points. And the voice, of course, is charming. The book reads like someone sitting next to you gossiping in your ear. The intimacy and conversational tone allowed me to excuse a lot of defects in the writing—the interior decorating lists, the dated references to celebrity hairstyles—because they're so in line with how someone would actually speak.Although the storyline is, yes, a bit frivolous and a lot melodramatic, there's also enough sense of humor that it's not pretentious, and the book does have some pretty serious things to say about sexuality and gender roles. There's not any preaching by the author—some characters do the preaching, sure, but it's in their natural voice. A compassionate but unflattering light is cast on gender expectations and sexuality for African-Americans. Strengths and weaknesses. Misogyny, homophobia. People who have overcome, and people who have not… who have destroyed themselves and/or others under the weight of their social and religious demands. Unfortunately, this kind of ethnic literature—it's a problematic phrase, but I'm using it to reflect that E. Lynn Harris was a black man writing pretty much all-black characters and not particularly marketing his books towards a white audience—is stereotypically supposed to only refer to its own ethnicity and not be "universal". Ugh. This story DOES have universal things to say about sexuality and gender, however, and I loathe and reject that dynamic where "white characters"="universal". Sorry for side rant. OK, back to the book. The last refreshing thing is that E. Lynn Harris writes about good bisexuals, bad bisexuals, and everyone in between. There's a warning to "lock up your sons and daughters" at one point! A lot of portrayals of bisexuality in fiction suffer from the "sneaky bisexual" stereotype: either they're lying liars who lie—or, to escape the stereotype, they're utterly and unrealistically saintly. It's very enjoyable to see a more three-dimensional and fictionally entertaining portrayal. Basil is pretty bad. Will he turn himself around? I don't know. I think I'll have to follow up with some more E. Lynn Harris books to find out…
i liked this book because it showed the issues and struggles of a man who lives a double life as a bisexual man. what i didnt like was how basil was toying with his girlfriends heart and calls off the wedding the day of. i felt like i was basil every time he described his affairs because everything was very detailed and you had no choice but to walk in his shoes when ever he shared his side of the story. if i were the author i would have made my story based on my real life events because i think it would give a better realistic view.
What do You think about Not A Day Goes By (2004)?
A Diva + a Dawg = a Page Turner,I would have never thought after reading some of E. Lynn Harris's preceding books where Basil makes an appearance, that I would actually like this character. I've always kinda despised Basil. But in this book, I couldn't help but like him. Sure he's in deep denial about his sexuality, and he is wrong for not telling his fiancée that about his bisexual past. And I think he is basically a very weak person. But, bless his heart, he is trying in this book. He believes he is in love with Yancey so he works at it and he really does try to make it all work. So I give him a lot of credit. Unfortunately, Basil really is the only major character who is in this book (Although a very minor character, Windsor, is also very admirable). I disliked Yancey a lot. I applaud Mr. Harris for creating such a seriously flawed character who, unfortunately, rings true. Yancey is supremely selfish and self-absorbed. She is jealous, manipulative, materialistic and completely dishonest. Yes, the book addresses why Yancey is such a messed up person, but in my opinion, the little glimpses of humanity we see in Yancey are a little too little to late. And don't get me started on her mother...grrr!Altho there are some real unsympathetic characters in this book, it is a page turner! It is a very entertaining and fun read.
—Tina
