Customer Reviews

Black Gay Man: Essays

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TO NONACADEMIC READERS: Be forewarned! Don't let the title deceive you. This is not a cute, accessible anthology with writings that would interest the average gay, black man. This is not "Brother to Brother" or "Fighting Words." This is a series of musings from a professor that is clearly trying to impress a tenure review board. TO ACADEMIC READERS: Reid-Pharr gives nine chapters which deal with theoretical questions on race, sexuality, and gender. The title is supposed to scare you in its seeming essentialism. The book is divided into three sections: black, gay, and man; but these are arbitrary. Reid-Pharr's project is to critique obtuse, overly "socially-constructed" academic hyperbabble without returning to played-out identity politics. However, this book is just as theoretically burdensome as any other recent cultural studies. Shockingly, the author never once mentions postmodernism and only discusses modernism. A lot of this book seems borrowed: the grotesque picture on the cover smacks of Mapplethorpe; the raunchy sexual tales are influenced by Delaney; the "I'm a lesbian" line comes from Sedgwick and Francisco Valdes. I usually would say all black gay lit. enthusiasts should buy something like this; but I can't say that this time. This book is going to disappoint many. It reminds me of Hazel Carby's weird "Race Men" book.