Review: My Man, My Boyz

One thing that I enjoy doing is supporting the community of black SGL fictional and non-fictional authors. My friend, The Divo, introduced me to the novels of E. Lynn Harris about five years ago and thus began my addiction. Over the years I've collected and read many books and while some were really great reads (Hardy, Harris & Ross), others (Poole) shouldn't have been ordered or bought in the first place! Regardless, I enjoy reading and supporting up-and-coming authors and always appreciate their courage and skill. My collection, thus far, is below:

Invisible Life Series (E. Lynn Harris)

B-Boy Blues Series (James Earl Hardy)

Down For Whatever (Frederick Smith)

This Place of Men (Doug Cooper-Spencer)

I Wrote This Song (Dayne Avery)

Details (Dayne Avery)

I'm On My Way (Christopher David)

Manhood (L.M. Ross)

Breathe (Blair Poole)

One More River To Cross (Keith Boykin)

Beyond The Down Low (Keith Boykin)

Their Own Receive Them Not (Horace Griffin)

The newest book that I've added to my collection is My Man, My Boyz by Dwayne Vernon. While I've just begun the novel, I've already found some great points about it. First up, I like the feel and I can already see the plotline developing and the possible climactic results. However, the author has some other minor hurdles that make it difficult to get into the book. He utilized the same description twice in one chapter (i.e. dark-chocolate brotha/tone). Um, yeah, why does it always come back to chocolate? Additionally, not all brothas are dark-chocolate; I like to think I'm more like a smooth mocha! LOL He also named two hood characters Carlton and Barbara. Okay, I'm not a thug and I don't live in the most ghetto parts of Boston, but last time I checked, I don't know many black Barbaras or Carltons! I keep thinking about the Fresh Prince and the "Carlton-dance" everytime I see that name! LOL

Anyway, the novel is pulling at my heartstrings because the relationships seem almost too perfect (they usually are in most books) ... I think it's those damn hormones of mine acting up again! I'm going to keep reading and see how it turns out. I spent the first two months of the year reading Barack Obama's books and then followed that up with some sci-fi novels. I just need a change of scenery and hopefully this will live up to my expectations! I'll let you know how it turns out!

Addendum (July 2, 2008 8:49 AM) ---------------------------------------

I've read about two-thirds of the book and the story started getting better. Nevertheless, the grammar (verb tense) and vocabulary sophistication is VERY limited. I'm trying not to be too harsh since this is the authors first novel and he doesn't really have a literary background. There are just some parts that are completely unnecessary and other scenes that seem to just fly by. I feel he could have fleshed out the personalities behind the characters and made them more distinct (they all seem to be blending together). Overall, I'm enjoying the plot and the twists and where this all may be headed. I'll let you know my full thoughts once I finish the novel.