Customer Reviews

2nd Time Around (A B-Boy Blues Novel #2)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Well I was very pleased with the second effort by JEH. I was hoping that I would get to read up on Lil' Bit and Pooquie. I have grown to care about what happens to these characters. This is a direct result of the excellence of the author. Thank you Mr. Hardy. (I waited patiently). Ever considered a series. I for one never get enough of this story. It is just amazing how much their relationship resembles my own. Between James Earl Hardy and E. Lynn Harris any misconceptions I had about homosexual relationships have been forever vanished. Thank you for this book. I can't wait to see what you come up with next. You have found a reader for life and I have found a "Must Read" author.

Very insightful,if this is what true love will be like in the end, then count me in. Loved it very much.

James Earl Hardy has done it once again. He left us with another tasty drop of Pooquie and Little Bit's love. I truly love this book. It gave me a chance to understand Raheim's thoughts, parallel to Mitchell's laid back demeanor. Mr. Hardy has definitely blessed us with these two positive characters, and I hope he gives us many more.

I am SO glad that hardy decided to take a different track with this book. While I, like many other, enjoyed B-Boy Blues, I thought it was too Terry McMillanish and only hinted at the talent he has. Well, I was right. Instead of giving us more gossipy narrative and lots of sex (hey, I don't mind reading about it but it shouldn't consume the story), he really digs down deep into the psyche of his characters and delivers a tale that, unlike most novels written by Black men, straight or gay, really shows us as human beings trying to name ourselves. I saw myself and the Black and Puerto Rican boyz I know in this book more than I did the first. This sequel isn't sophomoric, nor does it lack tension, as a couple of folks below claim (I suggest they reread the novel with both their eyes and mind opened); it's an original, engaging, insightful, passion-filled story. Hardy proves that sequel doesn't have to mean repeating yourself.

My friend gave me this book to read and said, "You will love it and hate it at the same time." And he was right. I LOVE this book because it is about me. I am just like this Brutha in the story, Raheim: boy from da hood, grew up with a single mother, has a son (mine is three). We both chocolate drops, six feet, but I'm more muscular, maxin out at 240 pounds. The writer, Hardy, really gives you the low down on Bruthaz on the down low like me, who don't be livin life as punks but kick it with other Bruthaz. It's like Hardy been followin me around all my life -- he got the story, the events, the people, the language we use down. I was laughin a lot and I even was tearin up a little.But I hate this book cuz its makin me face some things about myself I don't wanna face and deal with how I'm feelin for my friend. He and I been tight for like eight months and I guess I love him. But I ain't never been in this spot before, so it's kinda hard to handle, to tuff out. But I guess I gotta thank Hardy for makin me come to this pointsee what I gotta do. I ain't never thought somebody would write a book about a Brutha like me but they did. I'm gonna pick up the first one now but ain't no way its gonna top this. If you wanna know how Bruthaz who ain't into that lifestyle really live, this is the book to read

I had to read this book after finishing the first book. My uncles girlfriend wouldn't even let me read the first one from all the sex in it... So I took it upon my self to read that one of my own. I went to the library, took it out and read it... she lent me the 2nd and the third one... which I read like in 2-3 days... this is just a conintuation of the first one... Instead of this book talking about the perspective of Mitchell Crawford AKA Little Bit... It talks from Raheim Rivers Aka Pooquie's history background and perspective...

This and Bboy blues are my favorite books.. I also have to admit that this is the first Gay book I read and i was quite taken by it. there's a lot of conflict which interests the reader, and it beautilly entices the reader to want to know what's gonna happen next.

Raheim and Little Bit make a good couple, vry mature.. very REALISTIC! and I think this is great, I love it.. the front cover is beautiful, great job!

I like the novel because of the style it was written. If you are gay, black, and know how to read this is the best buy. It has sex, friedships, advice, and historical references that relate to being gay and black. And so much more about how to work on you, yes you, and your lifestyle choices.

Maybe I wasn't as gripped as I was with B-BOY BLUES, but THE 2nd TIME AROUND did have it's good points. Rahiem's love for his son and his devotion to his true love kept the story in place. I was glad to be on the inside track as Rahiem began to go upscale with his modeling career, but to tell the truth, even with all the juicy secrets and backstory, his character didn't have the same appeal without his other half. Still, one truly enjoyable ride.

I absolutely loved B Boy Blues when it came out. The author created a unique writing style, firmly anchored in the everyday speech and real people of a special community, and told a story of universal appeal in that style. As with most sequels, 2nd Time Around is 'pastoral' in character. B Boy Blues is, by necessity, character- and plot-driven. In 2nd Time Around, we know the personas of the characters and how they communicate, and there is time to get into their heads more deeply -- who is where on various political and social issues, to say nothing of their own developing identities. In the end -- able craftsman that he is -- the author shows that it is all relevant to a skillfully insinuated plot that ties together like a classic pastoral comedy in the end. I was raised, long before the days of political correctness and the purchase of social status through elevated literary pretentions, on the down-to-earth value of 'dialect' literature. I was, and still am, completely in love with the dialect works of James Whitcomb Riley ("The Bear Story") and Paul Laurence Dunbar ("Little Brown Baby"). Since then, I've discovered that many languages have masters of the same approach -- Abu Nuas in Arabic comes to mind. The fact is, you can say the most profound things and make the most on-target observations in the spoken language that gets us from rising up to lying down every day. And so can James Earl Hardy. I can't wait to read the third in this series.