Customer Reviews

Friends and Lovers

5 star:		(240)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

When I read the last line of this novel and closed the cover, I cried. I cried because of the numerous emotions I experience during the reading of this book. I cried because of happiness, sadness, and lost. I cried because the story, which affected me drastically with its realistic characters, was over. Friends and Lovers will make you look at your friends and/or lovers and cherish every moment you have together. It will also allow you to see how background issues can affect a relationship as the characters in this thrilling novel deal with preconceived notions about each other, past hurts, and family problems. Recommendation: You will laugh, cry, scream, cheer, and shout! No one tells a more realistic story than Dickey! But I must warn you that prior to reading this, or any of Dickey's books you need to prep yourself. IF YOU ARE NOT READY TO GO THROUGH A WHIRLWIND OF EMOTIONS, YOU NEED TO SET THE BOOK ASIDE FOR A DAY TO GET YOURSELF TOGETHER! This warning in no way suggests that you should not read the novel because I highly recommend all of Dickey's books I have read to date. They will allow you to see things how they are and call a spade a spade. His novels really have the ability to make you more open-minded by showing a variety of viewpoints. He equally narrates from a male and female viewpoint. He does it so well it is scary. He does not sound like a man telling a woman's story but a woman telling her own story. I do not know how he does it but Dickey does it well. The man gets mad props! His novels read like a drama and make you feel like you are watching a movie as you read. His skillful use of dialog, language, etc. make for the most realistic people you have ever read about in a fiction book. Clearly Dickey has done some real life research. If nothing else, his books will leave you energized and get you to thinking. I am always riled up after reading one of his novels and need to tell someone about it. That is another warning I must give you. YOU CANNOT READ ANY DICKEY BOOK WITHOUT TELLING SOMEONE ABOUT IT! I have read all of Dickey's novels except two, and I haven't been able to do it. I am absolutely positive that the result of trying to do so would either be an explosion or implosion. You cannot read one of his novels and not be emotionally affected. So be sure to heed my warnings, grab your Eric Jerome Dickey novel and get to reading. Believe me you will not be disappointed.

"Friends and Lovers" by Eric Jerome Dickey is a sensual tale of the lives of four people: Debra, Shelby, Tyrel, and Leonard. Once you pick this book up and begin reading, it's hard to put back down. This book is filled with drama and suspence from beginning to end. If you have ever been in love, you will find yourself laughing out loud and losing a few tears. The words truly jump off of the page and into your life. Erick Jerome Dickey has really outdone himself with this book. It can only be called a Literary Work of Art.

I love to read but I only get to read in waves because life gets busy and I don't have time. Well on this wave, I'm having a wonderful time. I have been trying to read Eric Jerome Dickey's books for some time and just got to them last month. I bought them all and I'm reading them in order of release. I started into "Friends and Lovers" as soon as I finished "Sister, Sister" last week and I finished it at 2:00 a.m. this morning. I loved the book so much I had to make myself put it down so I could get things done. I read at the Salon, at Work, at Home in bed, at my Sisters, in the Car, anywhere I could put some time in. This book was so down to earth it's unbelievable. You could relate to some of the characters and wanted to relate to others. I laughed (sometimes in public places out loud), cried (one night in bed at 1:00 a.m. when an event that I wasn't expecting at all occurred), screamed, I did it all. It's hard to describe how good it is without telling it. All I can say is, IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT, READ IT! It's a very enjoyable relaxing read and you won't be sorry. You Go Eric Jerome Dickey! I'm starting Milk in My coffee today after work!

Dear Mr. Dickey,

I just finished your book "Friends and Lovers" and I must say that it was absolutely fabulous! I could hardly put it down! I read it during my morning, lunch, and afternoon breaks--even when I had important things that I should have been taking care of :-)--I just loved it! I bonded with your characters almost immediately, and now that I'm finished with the book, I actually miss them. The first chapter with Lisa (who reminded me of Regina Greer on The Steve Harvey Show) sort of through me a bit, and to be honest with you, is the reason that I let the book sit on my bookshelf for a little over six months before finally picking it up and reading it. But let me tell you, once I got past that chapter, it was on, I never wanted it to end. It was great!

I have to admit, I first came across you and your first novel, "Sister Sister" by accident. I was shopping in Wal-Mart one day last year and was browsing through book section and came across this really nice African American animated looking cover, with a great synopsis on the back. It wasn't too expensive for an author that I'd never heard of before, so I thought, "Well, if it isn't good, at least I didn't come off of too much change for it." Nevertheless, as you know though, it was all that. I bonded with Valerie, Inda, and Chiquita just as quickly as I did with Tyrel, Shelby, Debra, and Leonard of F&L.

In F&L, I was really taken in by the true love shared between both couples. I guess that's why I had such a big problem with Shelby getting together with Richard. I sort of, in a way, expected that from Tyrel, but not Shelby. From the first scene with Richard on the plane, and the second of him in the club, regardless of the fine description that you gave the brother, he still sounded like a brother that stank, 360 degrees around. (That may have had something to do with the fact that I didn't want to see Shelby with anyone other than Tyrel though.) When Richard weaseled his way into going to the LA with Shelby, I could have reached right through the pages of my book and snatched his character completely out of the book. He was so weak, using his stank-attitude mama as a shield, what a punk! The final straw was when he pulled that stunt toward the end of the book. I was surprised, but convinced. as Shelby often said, he was definitely not the one, the two, the three, the four, or the five. (I guess you did your job well since I felt such animosity towards him :-)

As you can tell, I really enjoyed both of your books, and look forward to reading "Milk In My Coffee" and also "Cheaters" in June. Are there any plans of making a movie (TV or big screen) based on "Friends and Lovers" (or any of your other books)? That would really be great but ONLY if the actors that portray your characters are chosen very carefully. A bad actor/actress can really mess up a good role. I see Taye Diggs as Tyrel (and not because of his "Stella" role, I liked him when he was on Guiding Light best), maybe Regina King as Shelby, an unknown actress that looks like a cross between Vanessa L. Williams and Lisa Bonet as Debra, and one of those not so raunchy comics from Comedy Central to play Leonard. Keep up the good work!

I liked this book much better than the author's first effort, "Sister, Sister" mainly because there was more balance among the characters. In Debra, at last we see Mr. Dickey create a normal, likeable female character instead of his usual shrews and witches. Not to say that there are not some horrible women in this book, there certainly are, but at least Dickey made the effort to give us a sane female character. There is finally someone for which you can root.

This is the story of two female best friends falling in love with two male best friends. Debra & Leonard and Shelby & Tyrel. It can be difficult when one set of friends gets involved with another set of friends because if things don't work out you have to choose. And the author provides some realistic examples of that situation.

I enjoyed this book because it's not one of those fairytale love stories. Making a relationship work is tough, and we glimpse some of that in this book when two of the characters move in together and try to peacefully co-exist. This book shows how misunderstandings can be amplified and can completely transform our lives because there is one simple exchange that sets in motion the unraveling of Tyrel and Shelby's romance.

Tyrel was an interesting character. On the surface, he seems like a heartless womanizer but later on in the story we see that he is using these women ("the transitional team") to try to fill a void in his life. I could definitely relate when he said that he never expected to have to keep starting over in his relationships when he was 30. In a real relationship rather than one of his hit and runs, Tyrel was romantic and thoughtful. He made up little poems with his girlfriend's name and left notes in her purse. And later on he tells her that he would always love her even after she married another man. Shelby was rude and brash and worst of all, she lead another man on when she knew that she didn't want him.

My one complaint about this book, and the reason why I didn't give it 5 stars, is the author's failure to provide a better sense of chronology. We jump from Debra and Leonard getting engaged before his career took off and then next thing you know they're married and he's a major star. Then Tyrel and Shelby jump from casual dating to shacking up. And later I had no idea about how long the couple had been apart before they reunite under tragic circumstances. I couldn't tell how long the lapses in time were supposed to have been -- months or years.

But on the whole this was a very good book, and I enjoyed every word. I've read 4 of Dickey's books so far. This one and "Cheaters" are my favorites.

as a rule, i don't read the back of book jackets or look inside and read the book flaps, because i don't want to know the synopsis of the story. but i could tell just from the title, that this was another black love story in the vein of "waiting to exhale."

just like terry, dickey has his pulse on the african-american community; he knows brothers and sisters; he knows how they talk, what clothes they wear, what cars they drive and all the name brands that innundate their exsistence. like his other novels, "friends and lovers," is very contemporary; the use of pop culture references will make this book dated after a few years. but most writers are doing the same thing, so that is a moot point. dickey knows how to spin a good yarn and it was this talent that kept me engrossed in the book.

however, the book only deserves 3 stars, beacuse while the story was interesting enough to hold my attention, there were a lot of flaws, especially with the plot. dickey tells us about tyrel's relationship with his dad. and the scenes he shows of their relationship are sketchy at best. it would've been great if he could've devoted one chapter to just tyrel and his dad talking things out, not necessarily a " happy ending " type resolution, but at least showing them on the road to progress. we know tyrel is a mack, because of his dad's behavior, however i sympathized with him because he was searching for true love of all the characters, i found shelby the least appealing ( i'm sorry, she was a conceited b**ch..) she wants so much to be viewed as a "victim." she may have been college-educated, but she had a g.e.d mentality when it came to picking men. she's also irresponsible and selfish. if my woman had an abortion without consulting me, i would've kicked her out of my life. I'm not trying to be a moralist, but a man helps make a child too. shelby thinks all men are dogs and yet she dates richard, because he's successful, but she doesnt care about him, leading him on. there's more but i wont give it away. read the book. i didnt like the plot twist regarding leonard; he was the most likable character in the book. debra is a "good christian woman" and yet, she's a racist. though when you discover why, you feel her pain. Eric Jerome Dickey will probably never be compared to Richard Wright or James Baldwin( he's not literary or high-minded enough);he probably doesn't care with all the loot he makes from his books.but that's okay, his style is fine and it suits the masses. overall, its a better than average beach book.

I'm currently in the process of reading everything Dickey has written, and this time around I opened the pages to Friends and Lovers. And once again, E. Dickey did not disappoint me!!

This story and the characters Leonard and Deborah, along with Tyrel and Shelby are so real. The friendship and love each of them shared with one another was a joy to read. So much in fact, that I found myself sad as hell by the time I hit chapter 25, because I just wasnt ready for it, ya know?

The foursome's story is one of love, loss, misunderstanding, stubborness, friendship, and once again...LOVE! So, if you're a Dickey fan, do yourself a favor and read the book. If you're a newbie to Dickey's work, still do yourself a favor and read the book. He won't disappoint you!!

p.s. Does anybody else love the way EJD continues to use past characters in his new books and builds on them?