Friends and Lovers [Hardcover]

Eric Jerome Dickey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1997

Eric Jerome Dickey chronicles the lives, loves, and challenges of young African Americans with humor and poignancy that places him clearly alongside such popular authors as Bebe Moore Campbell, Connie Brisco, and Terry McMillan. In Friends and Lovers, two couples set off on different roads in the search for the kind of love that will last. Deborah and Leonard meet late at night in a Denny's. She is a smart, no-nonsense OB/GYN who has sworn off sex before marriage--no more men slipping into her bed after sundown and leaving before sunup. He is a dark, complicated, and spiritual man who makes his living as an entertainer. He is drawn to her strength and intelligence; she falls for his deep sensitivity. They choose to marry. Shelby and Tyrel are both on the rebound after tumultuous relationships. They fall in love hard and fast, and move in together. When Shelby finds out she is pregnant, she takes a step back and compares her situation to her friend Deborah's. Afraid that Tyrel's commitment isn't solid and she might end up a single mother, like her own mom, Shelby shuts Tyrel out. Wracked by feelings of betrayal, he flees the relationship and Los Angeles. But tragedy will reunite them in a moment of crisis. Their painful reunion will underscore that there is no right road to love, only an ongoing effort to cope with life and the surprising and imperfect ways that it unfolds. Eric Jerome Dickey's sharp wit and warm humor, his gift for genuine characters, and his connection to real-life issues all make Friends and Lovers a perceptive, moving, and highly enjoyable novel of modern life.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Following on the heels of Sister, Sister, Dickey has crafted another fine novel of love and friendship. This one involves two Los Angeles couples whose lives intersect as they search for happiness.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Second-novelist Dickey more than fulfills the promise shown in Sister, Sister (1996), again offering real characters and invigorating, believable dialogue. The loves, lives, and losses of four vibrant, Los Angelesbased African-American men and women are the subjects on which Dickey focuses his powers of observation and finely tuned wit. Tyrel, whose twin sister Mye is a constant source of support, is a computer-company executive whose career is far more steady than his love life. His best friend, Leonard, is an aspiring stand- up comedian who seems poised for stardom, though also remaining unhappily single. When the two men meet Debra and Shelby, it seems that their luck has taken a dramatic turn for the better; after a matter of days, Leonard and the light-skinned, quiet but determined Debra, an OB-GYN nurse, have fallen for each other big-time. It takes Tyrel and the outspoken, harder-edged Shelby, a flight attendant (who hates being called a ``stewardess''), a little longer, but after a rocky start they too find in each other what they've been searching for. Los Angeles seems at first a paradise for the foursome as they enthusiastically hit the beaches, comedy clubs, restaurants, and discos. Then a massive misunderstanding destroys Tyrel and Shelby's romance, leading them to move to San Francisco and San Diego, respectively; by this time, Leonard and Debra are happily married and frustrated with their best friends' inability to resolve their differences. It takes tragedy on a grand scale to reunite lovers destined for each other and to teach both couples that friendship is perhaps the most valuable gift they've been given. With four characters taking turns offering snippets of the story, it's sometimes hard to keep track of who's talking--but familiarity makes for smoother sailing through another success scored by Dickey. (Literary Guild selection; author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 404 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (November 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525941274
• ISBN-13: 978-0525941279
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (275 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #943,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eric Jerome Dickey is the author of twelve novels, including the bestsellers Genevieve, Drive Me Crazy, Naughty or Nice, The Other Woman, and Thieves' Paradise. Dickey writes full time and is developing a six-issue mini-series of comic books for Marvel Enterprises featuring Storm (X-Men) and the Black Panther.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT!, May 27, 2000

By 

Gayle Jackson Sloan "Author" (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Friends and Lovers (Mass Market Paperback)

I just finished reading this book, and I was sorry to see it end. This is a hard book to put down. I found myself turning down lunch out with co-workers so I wouldn't lose my reading time. I loved Debra and Leonard. What happened with them was a total surprise. I kept trying to think what comedian he may have been based on. Shelby kind of worked my nerves a little bit. But it was obvious that she and Tyrel were meant for each other. I wanted to punch Richard out myself! It's almost hard to see why Shelby would have even considered a man like him at all. Anyway, I totally enjoyed this book, as well as Mr. Dickey's other two that I have read, Milk In My Coffee and Sister, Sister. I swear that man must have been raised by a house full of women. He writes his female characters as a woman would. I found myself checking the back cover a few times to make sure it was a MAN who had written it. I think he is going to be a SERIOUS voice in black writing. His books are fast-paced, based in reality, and as I said, excellent reads! Keep up the good work. As a frustrated writer myself, I hope he doesn't get TOO mad if I steal his style! I can see that this will be another writer that I will instinctively buy everytime a new book is published. Gettin' ready to read Cheaters next!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars ++++, January 23, 2004

By 

Anita Pearson (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Friends and Lovers (Hardcover)

Great book, lots of action, lots of reactions. I laughed, I cried, and I even screamed once. I truly felt the emotions of the characters.
One especially poignant tear-jerking moment was when Tyrel defines the three keys. I laughed more than anything else. I really cared what happened to the characters. I was tantalized by their drama. The 4 main characters are so vivid and believably real! Eric Jerome Dickey is a masterful writer, weaving a tale that will keep you enthralled from page one. I hopped on the Eric Jerome Dickey fan train a little late, but I am making up for it by reading the books that I missed.

That's the short of...

The long of it...

Tyrel is searching for true and everlasting love, but is coming up empty. He is a young successful man ready for a loving relationship and a family.
Debra is a classy sister that is seeking true love and does not want a relationship filled only with lust and sex.
Leonard is a comedian that falls in love fast as his career is taking a successful turn.
Shelby is an underemployed selfish sister that has too much baggage- childhood baggage, relationship baggage, work baggage... Shelby's selfishness is displayed time and time again. Before the book was midway through- I found myself disliking her and especially her actions! Not wanting to reveal too much of the plot- there is one instance where she makes a life-altering decision based solely on the fact that her boyfriend-at-the-moment does not say the things that she WANTED him to say. Never mind the fact that she lied to him, or that it was in the middle of the night when she called- it was basically her way or no way. I felt that the Shelby character had to be the center of attention at all times. She took nobody else's feelings into account before she acted; of course this leads to many confrontations and disastrous situations. Wherever she went, she made sure that drama followed.

Overall a great read, it was hard to put this book down! I eagerly await the next Eric Jerome Dickey book.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Play, September 16, 2004

By 

Shamontiel L. Vaughn "Message from Montie" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Friends and Lovers (Mass Market Paperback)

I read this book a few years ago, but when I went to see the play yesterday (phenomenal, beautiful, talented cast with an extremely funny performance), then I remembered the book. The woman who played Lisa was exactly right for the part of a conniving and vulnerable woman who wanted a stable man in her life. The comedian in the play and book made me do a back story on EJD to find out that he was a comedian before (and that was obvious).

I remember Chiquita as ghetto, but the girl who played her made me cry laughing so she may have been funny in the book. The comedian in the play who played Chiquita's love/hate interest was as funny on Comic View as he was in this play. (I love the Scrabble scene).

I do remember the characters that Leon (ooh wee!) and Melvin King (speechless) played in the book and that was pure entertainment. Leon's character refused to be married but wanted someone special and King's character just wanted someone to love. But all the back n' forth relationships of a marriage gone bad, another one starting, a fatal accident occurring, friendships walking on a tight rope, and lies wrapped with a heartfelt mound of comedy, made this play and the book an excellent watch and read.