Coming Up from the Down Low: The Journey to Acceptance, Healing, and Honest Love [Paperback]

J.L. King (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 2006

Shining a Light on the Down Low.

J. L. King lived on the down low for years before he wrote On the Down Low, the controversial bestseller that revealed the secret subculture of men leading straight lives while secretly sleeping with other men. In Coming Up from the Down Low, King takes readers to the next level, answering the most common questions asked by the people he’s met while traveling the country and reporting on this lifestyle. He provides more in-depth information about the men who live this way, dispels the most common myths, and addresses the most frequently asked question of all: What are the signs? But more than that, King tells of his own transformation over the last year, as he’s moved into a more honest evaluation of his own life and the lives of other men like him.

Filled with fascinating stories from men who have lived on the down low and the women who have struggled through it with them, Coming Up from the Down Low is a vital call for greater love, tolerance, and forgiveness in our individual lives and within our communities.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This follow-up to the Oprah-driven smash On the Down Low packs few surprises, but in its relentlessly candid, insistently first-person way, it creates a safe, supportive space in which readers who find themselves "living on the DL" might self-recognize and begin to seek light and air. King careens from anecdote to anecdote, from tales from his own sex-addicted DL existence (and his divorce) to those of readers who got in touch with him following the first book's success. Each of the vignettes contains some small lesson, however, from behavior that unconsciously reflects a desire to get caught to habits that are outright dangerous. There are chapters in which men and women "Speak Out"; AIDS is treated clearly, directly and sympathetically; race is aired complexly. All the issues that King treats, he treats specifically: the discussion of race, for example, is drawn out of an anecdote about a cookout, which is itself embedded in a discussion of community acceptance. So while the book isn't linear, it's completely grounded and centered in King's voice and sensibility. While it may not put up the huge, instant numbers of its predecessor, this one is built for the backlist. 8-city author tour. (On sale Apr. 26)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

King is author of the controversial best-seller On the Down Low [BKL My 15 04], which exposed the practice of apparently straight black men who have sex with other men and yet do not see themselves as gay. In this -follow-up, King owns up to his bisexuality and his willingness to form more than a sexual relationship with another man. Men on the DL are confused about their sexual orientation and are reflecting the strong homophobic feelings in the black community, King maintains. But because of the health risks posed by the spread of AIDS by men on the DL, he advocates a focus on risky sexual practices rather than sexual orientation. King draws distinctions between white gay activists and black gay or bisexual men who feel the need to remain centered in the black community. He also takes issue with broader social pressures that define men in narrow roles as husbands and fathers, creating pressure to present a facade of being straight. By broadening his focus, King encourages analysis of the DL phenomenon beyond his own personal -demons. Vernon Ford
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (April 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307209792
• ISBN-13: 978-0307209795
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.5 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,589,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Bogus!, May 21, 2005

By 

ucytheynv - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coming Up from the Down Low: The Journey to Acceptance, Healing, and Honest Love (Hardcover)

This was a book written, because his publisher probably gave him money to do it.
The brother is bogus. he is still living a lie, to himself and others. He admits that even after the last book he had not come totally clean with himself.
Dont believe his "bisexual" crap. He seems intent on proving his own bisexuality by showing stories of confusion in others. That is not a bisexual, that is a gay man in denial!
His comments about how good he looks, and how good he dresses, then gets mad when people say he acts gay. LOL. First. Bro, your looks are average at best, come down off the high horse. Second, Tom Joyner was correct, he does LOOK gay on his book cover and the Jet cover.
If you are expecting insight, or information. Not in this book. if you expect him to state a position, he will not. Only have safe sex. he seems to justify men who sleep around, as long as they tell their women, or they are safe.
This brotha is frontin, and needs to get real with yourself.
sorry, i just dont like fake people, and this brother is as genuine as a $3 bill. he is playing on peoples fears to sell a book.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not in denial as much as before..., November 14, 2005

By 

Don Mega (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coming Up from the Down Low: The Journey to Acceptance, Healing, and Honest Love (Hardcover)

I give the brotha credit for at least putting a label on himself. In the introduction, he says "I am a bisexual man." That's pretty much would've saved Oprah about half an hour of dialog from his appearance on the show. I mean the man went on and on about how he's living the straight life, but has sex with men and didn't consider himself gay or bisexual. For some DL brothas, "It was the liquor." Personally, I don't think there's enough alcohol on this planet to make me even consider...I can't even type it out.

Anyway, back to this book - I think it's a decent follow-up, but not worth purchasing. There was an, er, interesting story on how he was on a date dancing with a beautiful sister and this, er, well, in his words, "fine brother," walked in and how they were both checking him out and laughing about it. See? Honest Love. Check it out at the local library, if you're interested in his life after the down low.

1.0 out of 5 stars phoney, January 15, 2012

By 

fatman - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Coming Up from the Down Low: The Journey to Acceptance, Healing, and Honest Love (Hardcover)

This book continues to give dl men excuses to be selfish and think of themselves only king encourages honesty but still tells men its ok to lie to thier families and spouses not a good read