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Invisible Life
E. Lynn Harris
Reviewed by Steven G. Fullwood
Frat boy Raymond Winston Tyler has problems. He likes girls, but while in college
he makes the frightening discovery that he also likes boys. Can’t let anybody know
that I like boys, he thinks to himself. That would make him gay, right? Enter Kelvin, a
sexy, self-described bisexual black football player that Raymond meets as an
undergraduate. After spending a night kissing, Kelvin tells Raymond, “[Y]ou know one
time doesn’t make you gay.” Yeah, right. Like this guy can be counted on to tell
the truth. Seems like he would say anything to get Mr. Confused right back into bed.
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So begins Invisible Life, E. Lynn
Harris’ first novel. The book that started it all. It's now a modern classic of
sorts. It's the first mainstream novel by a black writer to deal openly with bi- and
homosexuality since James Baldwin’s Just Above My
Head.
Here’s the story. After college and law school, Raymond comes to terms with his
sexuality, if uncomfortably. While Christmas shopping in New York, Raymond runs into his
first, um, love[r] Kelvin who is now living in DC with his wife. Readers are led to
believe that all kinds of drama are imminent, so one is encouraged to turn the pages at
lightning speed.
To his credit, Harris’ book explores the internal dialogue of the sexually confused
man. When Kelvin asks Raymond about whether he has had sex with another man, Raymond let
his mind run over the possibility. “The questions and the conversation were making me
agitated. I wanted to appear more sophisticated. Maybe it was an East Coast thing. Did
Kelvin guess about the one time I had experimented with my cousin Marcus, when we were
only about nine years old? We had really only compared the size of our growing peters. How
could he possibly know that?” This reflection is perhaps the only interesting thing
in the book.
Here are the cast of characters-and what characters they are. Sela, Raymond’s college
sweetheart is clueless. His running buddy Kyle flits about, constantly dropping witty
remarks that would make RuPaul look like Mike Tyson. JJ is the ultimate girl
“friend” who once slept with Raymond. Quinn, a bisexual lover of Raymond’s,
is in a troubled marriage (no wonder, right?), and Raymond’s former lover Kelvin and
his dying wife, round out the motley crew. Guess what virus she contracted? Then
there’s Nicole, Raymond’s girlfriend. I won’t say anything else but
there’s a whole lot of drama in this book.
Invisible Life, like all of Harris’ books, is a novel of manners. One should be who
he is and not be deceitful. Sometimes Harris’ narrative speaks almost exclusively to
black women in a way that can be reduced to one phrase: “Here are the clues, sisters,
watch your man.” M
April 2001 |
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