An uncompromising work that will challenge the mindset of every reader, Member of the Club is a searching book of essays ranging from examining life as a black Princetonian and corporate lawyer to exploring life as a black busboy at an all white country-club. From New York magazine cover stories Invisible Man and Harlem on My Mind to such new essays as "I Never Dated a White Girl" and "My Dinner with Mister Charlie: A Black Man's Undercover Guide to Dining with Dignity at Ten Top New York Restaurants," Graham challenges racial prejudice among White Americans while demanding greater accountability and self-determination from his peers in black America. "In Member of the Club. [Graham writes of] heartbreaking ironies and contradictions, indignities and betrayals in the life of an upper-class black man." --Philadelphia Inquirer"Lawrence Graham Surely knows about the pressures of being beholden to two very different groups." --Los Angeles TimesLawrence Otis Graham is a popular commentator on race and ethnicity. The author of ten other books, his work has appeared in New York magazine, the New York Times and The Best American Essays.

    The signature sounds of Motown are filling Detroit's airwaves, and automobile factories are supporting a burgeoning black middle class, which works by day and plays bid whist by night. Rae's hip older sister, Kimmie, has moved home from New Orleans;her mother's nerves have calmed enough for her to stop taking her "vitamins"; her father has discovered new painkillers that ease his chronic migraines; and now, despite her parents' sleeping in separate rooms, the peace between them seems to be holding. All that shifts, however, when Rae's mother suddenly takes off with her lover down a stretch of highway.Left to care for her ailing father, Rae grows up faster than any young girl should and is forced to admit that her mother may be incapable of love, that her father's love may be too all-consuming. What's most obvious is that neither seems fully capable of looking after Rae, who is searching not only for a way to make her family whole again but also for a way to make sense of her own budding sexuality.With fully realized characters and an infinitely imaginative storyline, Shifting Through Neutral heralds the arrival of a promising new talent.

    Here you’ll find sexy tales from fan favorites K’wan, Joy, Thomas Long, Jamise L. Dames, Andrea Blackstone, Gerald Malcom, Euftis Emory, Kweli Walker, and Erick Gray, along with two hot new voices: Aretha Temple and Plea$ure. Noire even supplies her own juicy addition to the hard-body lineup.So beware: The heat and the drama between these pages are not fairy tales for the desperate housewife. Ride hard with Noire as her authors get their grind on and take it to the limits in From the Streets to the Sheets.

    After some truly bad experiences with thug love, that leave her both emotionally and physically battered, Rayqelle soon grows to understand that fast life and fast love in the hood ain't all that it's cracked up to be.

    So when local English teacher Carissa Melody Wayne is asked to appear on the weight-loss reality show Losing to Win, she agrees. She doesn't realize that others from her past will be joining her, including her high school nemesis, an acquaintance who's been nursing a long-time crush on her--and most shocking of all, Carissa's ex-fiancé, former NFL star Malachi Knight.As Carissa's group is split into pairs to compete in a series of challenges, she finds herself at the mercy of the chaotic Hollywood crew and cast members, and her own unfinished business. Soon enough, she discovers that her biggest challenge will be deciding what's really important to her, what she's willing to do to win--and how to do it with cameras following her 24/7...

    come enter the world of the Teflon Divas the best series to every be release . Shameek A Speight takes writing to a new level ! • A must read! This is an amazing work of literature! In this twisted tale you will be introduced to Tess, Iris, Vanessa, Ebony and Bless who find out that The Pleasure of Pain is a true testament that we always want what we shouldn’t have. Tess is a strong determined business woman by the day and queen of the streets by night. She will stop at nothing to get the life she wants for herself and her three best friends along with her man, even if it means breaking old bonds and creating lifetime enemies. What she doesn’t realize is in the game of cut- throat there are no rules. Bless emerges on the scene after being recently released from prison only to find that things are not the way they were before he got locked up. The worst part is the person he has to fight is the person he least expected would betray him. He is out for blood and hell bent on destroying anyone who gets in his way. Iris is secretly in love with Tess, but plays the friend card in order to get closer to her. She knows that Tess is in love with another man, however that doesn’t stop her from plotting to get Tess’ heart. Vanessa and Ebony are sisters who share the same father and they happen to be Tess’ top lieutenants. Their loyalty and love run deep for Tess and has never been questioned until now… With pleasure there is always a little pain as Tess and her girlfriends will soon find out. Will they break under pressure or will they show why women rule the world?

    ADDICTION. DECEPTION. PRETTY PICTURES HIDE UGLY SECRETS. Denise and Derrek Shaw are the perfect American couple. Happily married for fifteen years, they have a wonderful daughter, Mackenzie, successful careers, and a beautiful home in a posh Chicago suburb. They are attractive, respected . . . and hiding a shocking secret: a dangerous addiction to drugs. It started innocently enough. Denise occasionally used prescription drugs to help her deal with the long hours and demanding nature of her job. Derrek, also under pressure at work, began using cocaine socially with some of his colleagues. They can quit whenever they want to. At least, that's what Denise would like to believe . . . As her job becomes more stressful, Denise can no longer get through the day without a fix. Derrek realizes his harmless habit has become anything but, and desperately wants to get clean. However, his attempts are derailed when there is a sudden family tragedy. Once soul mates, now this husband and wife are quickly losing the immense love that had been the cornerstone of their marriage. With her parents spiraling out of control, Mackenzie makes an unexpected move to take matters into her own hands. Is her sacrifice too late-or is there still hope? Is there a final chance to save the Shaw family?

    Ebony Canion has had her share of tumultuous events, yet even she was stunned when a speeding car hit her intentionally, dragging her through the streets with her body folded underneath the vehicle. In a coma for nearly two months, Ebony had no idea her tongue and face had to be sewn back on, or the list of thirty other life-threatening injuries she had sustained. Ultimately,Ebony had been Left for Dead. In this horrifying first-hand account of a survivor, Ms. Canion delivers a riveting story about overcoming tragedy throughout her childhood, and developing the will to live after numerous attacks on her life. Her strength to learn to walk, talk, and eat again will leave you spellbound and inspired. Her scars tell a story that must be heard and will have you never wanting to complain again.

    Her pathologist husband, Mark, is distracted by his gorgeous, young intern, while her hotshot new museum director boss doubts Julie's curatorial chops. And Julie's six-year-old son, Jack (born Juan), may never recover from trauma inflicted by early life spent in a Guatemalan orphanage.Then Jack suffers a major health crisis, and everything pales next to saving his life. As much as Julie clings to being Jack's "only" mother, she needs to find his Guatemalan mother to unlock his medical history. Julie hires a professional searcher, and what she learns turns her world upside down. At the same time, Jack's birth mother, an indigenous Ixil Maya, navigates her own tumultuous path, beginning with surviving a horrific massacre.In this gripping tale told from alternating perspectives, both mothers must draw on fierce inner strength to reckon with their life choices.

    Since this is Beverly's third engagement in the past five years, after breaking off the previous two at the last moment, everyone's happy that she's finally settling down. For Beverly and Julian, nothing could be better than being in love and planning their wedding. That is until Beverly's oldest sister's marriage falls apart and dampens the mood of what should have been the happiest time in Beverly's life. Now, second-guessing her impending nuptials, Beverly is forced to wonder if marriage really works. Will she stick it out? Or will her fears cloud her judgment once again?

    But when she loses her job, everything changes. Exhausted, lonely, and unemployed, Barbara is forced to face her feelings and doubts. Then a troubled, vulnerable little boy walks into her life and changes it forever.

    Born with magical hands, Madge has the power to discern others’ suffering, but she cannot heal her own damaged heart. To mend herself and help those in need, she must return to Tennessee to face the women healers who rejected her as a child. Sadie can commune with the dead, but until she makes peace with her father, she, too, cannot fully engage her gift.Searching for his missing family, Hemp arrives in this northern city that shimmers with possibility. But redemption cannot be possible until he is reunited with those taken from him. In the bitter aftermath of a terrible, bloody war, as a divided nation tries to come together once again, Madge, Sadie, and Hemp will be caught up in a desperate, unexpected battle for survival in a community desperate to lay the pain of the past to rest. Beautiful in its historical atmosphere and emotional depth, Balm is a stirring novel of love, loss, hope, and reconciliation set during one of the most critical periods in American history.

    Major players on the singles' scene, the last thing on either of their minds is playing for keeps. Until Jasmine is forced into a temporary marriage of convenience. And she realizes the sexy-as-all-get-out man is the one she wants to have and to hold….The free-living, free-loving playboy Troy never planned to turn in his player's card. But the proposal intrigues him…especially since he can't keep his hands off the hot-as-sin reporter. As the passion heats up between the newlyweds and rising media stars, Troy makes a new vow. He'll win the heart of the woman he's promised to honor forever with the love that began with a single kiss….

    Umrigar illuminates how slowly we recover from unforgettable loss, how easily good intentions can turn evil, and how far a person will go to build a new world for those he loves.When Frank and Ellie Benton lose their only child, seven-year-old Benny, to a sudden illness, the perfect life they had built is shattered. Filled with wrenching memories, their Ann Arbor home becomes unbearable, and their marriage founders. But an unexpected job half a world away offers them an opportunity to start again. Life in Girbaug, India, holds promise—and peril—when Frank befriends Ramesh, a bright, curious boy who quickly becomes the focus of the grieving man's attentions. Haunted by memories of his dead son, Frank is consumed with making his family right—a quest that will lead him down an ever-darkening path with stark repercussions. Filled with satisfyingly real characters and glowing with local color, The Weight of Heaven is a rare glimpse of a family and a country struggling under pressures beyond their control. In a devastating look at cultural clashes and divides, Umrigar illuminates how slowly we recover from unforgettable loss, how easily good intentions can turn evil, and how far a person will go to build a new world for those he loves.

    The one thing these men do share, is the fact that neither of them will give up the sexual freedom they enjoyed as single men.