Sunday, March 04, 2007

Everybody Can't Be Zane! : Over Sexualized Neo Black Fiction…

" I like Zane, she makes no apologies for her works of erotic art."
---writer, Queen Paula

"A legend among her fellow authors as far as erotic literary fiction goes."
-- Today's Black Woman

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I received my mini-catalogue in the mail to order books by Black authors. And I must say I found some great buys: Hill Harper’s Letters to a Young Brother, Sharon Ewell Foster’s Abraham’s Well, and the sequel to Cane River, Talita Tademy’s Red River.
However, something else caught my eye, the titles and covers of some of our new up and coming authors: Thug-A-Licious, Is the B**** Dead or what?, Satisfy me, Sex in the Hood 2 and Riding Dirty on I-95. Ok those are just the titles, the covers are even more suggestive with sisters and brothers in sexy couple posses, half dressed sisters looking very ready to be…but I digress.

I AM NOT HATIN’
I am proud to see such a wide variety of reading, but what besides sex and messiness are these books offering? Are they feeding any other appetite but those hungry for profanity, sex and drama? What are the true lesson’s learned? Is there content to the character of these book?
I have decided to put myself on an Omar Tyree regimen.
I am going to start with his first novel and read through his current to see what I am or am not missing. I pick him as my lead in writer to this nuevo type of novel because he seems to have set the pace, right along with E. Lynn Harris (but I have read his work and have found content).

I am curious to se if these new authors are following
their leads and mimicking what they think
“we” avid readers want.
I’ll get back with ya…