Works by
James Earl Hardy
(Writer)

B-Boy Blues Books

1. B-Boy Blues: A Seriously Sexy, Fiercely Funny, Black-on-Black Love Story (1994)

2. 2nd Time Around (1996)

3. If Only for One Nite
   [An Exerpt]
   Have you ever had a crush on a teacher? I'm sure we all have. From the first day, the first moment you meet them, you're·

   Captivated.
   Captured.
   Committed.
   Convicted.

   My very first crush was on an English teacher named Mr. Weatherspoon in the second grade. He was fresh out of college and looked so fresh (uh, young) that, after meeting him on parent-teacher conference night, my mother just knew she was on Candid Camera: She thought he was a student masquerading as a teacher. He just took her observation as a compliment and flashed that smile. Lord, that smile. He had what you would call a baby-grand grin. Whenever he flashed it, I would hear them ivories and ebonies being tickled (notice how most forget to mention those black keys). And I don't know what tune was being played, but whatever it was, it was hypnotic - just like him. He always came to class dressed down in a shirt, jacket, slacks, and tie, and his scent was an aftershave lotion called Blue Musk (yes, I had the gall to ask; there was a reporter in me at that age).

   I looked forward to when he would hunch over my desk, give me one of those smiles, reach out with that big, brown hand, and crown me the winner of our weekly spelling bee by brushing my head and saying, "Outstanding, Mitchell. Just outstanding." And I earned that reward every week: I studied an extra hour each Thursday afternoon to ensure that I held on to my title. When he smiled at me, when he touched me·I don't know, that button was pressed. Yeah, it was an innocent gesture and in no way sexual, but it had the opposite effect: Those homohormones really kicked into gear. I didn't know at that age what it was I was feeling or why I was feeling the way I was, but I knew that I loved the feeling.

   But I was fully aware of what I was feeling and why I was feeling it this time. And I was truly enjoying what those homohormones were doing to me. I was in a daze, a haze over Mr. Reid: I just stared into space in all my classes, daydreaming about him. And at night? My wet dreams were so wild that I found my pillow and sheet on the floor in the morning and my underwear soaked. In a sense I had my art teacher, Ms. Yearwood, to thank for that. I dreamed of Mr. Reid

4. The Day Eazy-E Died (2001)
   There is no doubt that when it comes to realistically chronicling the experiences of contemporary black gay life and love, no one comes close to James Earl Hardy. His deft exploration of the cross-cultural differences among African-Americans, clear-eyed examinations of racism and homophobia, and passionate pleas for peace have made the best-selling B-Boy Blues series a modern classic. At the end of If Only for One Nite, Raheim Rivers and Mitchell Crawford's love had been tested by ghosts of the past; now it will be tested by the haunting specter of AIDS. As Raheim juggles his increasingly hectic schedule as a supermodel, he is rocked by the news that one of his idols, N.W.A. founder Eazy-E, has AIDS. His complacency shattered, Raheim gets tested but keeps it a secret. Meanwhile, life goes on around him, as his son struggles in a new school, his ex-girlfriend falls in love with a new man, and Mitchell becomes increasingly concerned by Raheim's withdrawal. As he has so succesfully done in the past, Hardy masterfully draws his fascinating and very real characters into the ferment of urgent societal issues. He has created a powerfully real look at the issues facing young people of all sexual persuasions, young Black men, who are disproportionately infected and affected by AIDS. The book confronts the issues of sexuality, responsibility, and youthful perceptions of immortality. As the date for disclosure of his test results draws near, Raheim's fear and the ongoing stigma of the disease push him toward conflicting decisions.

5. Love the One You're With (2002)
   Do men and monogamy mix?
   
   It's not a question Mitchell Little Bit Crawford gave much thought to until his beaufriend of almost two years, Raheim Pooquie Rivers, an All-American jeans model, heads to Hollywood to make his first feature film. As Mitchell soon discovers, the temptation to cheat is very real. In fact, it seems to be everywhere: at his job, in his lawyer's office, at restaurants, the shopping mall, and in the recording studio. An ex even pops up hoping to pick up where they left -- and got -- off. While intrigued, Mitchell chalks all the attention up to "the married man" syndrome: one is much more desirable when they're attached to someone else.
   
   But as he continues to run into bisexual musician Montgomery "Montee" Simms, the look but don't touch rule is put to the test. As he and Montee get closer, Mitchell's idealistic beliefs about commitment are challenged. Will he love the one he's with because he can't be with the one he loves?

6. A House Is Not a Home: A B-Boy Blues Novel (2005)
   In the sixth and final title of his groundbreaking, bestselling B-Boy Blues series, James Earl Hardy brings his beloved couple -- Mitchell, the Buppie from Brooklyn, and Raheim, the homeboy from Harlem -- into the twenty-first century.

   As they prepare for the birthday party of Raheim's fifteen-year-old son, Errol (formerly known as "Junior" and "Li'l Brotha Man"), Mitchell and Raheim both juggle their own midlife crises and consider once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

   With the Big 4-0 just three years away, Mitchell is a little antsy: He has a very successful freelance writing career, but he longs for something more. And that something more finds him -- a dream job from a most unlikely place. But he's gotten very comfortable working his own schedule and being a stay-at-home dad -- does he really want to return to the daily grind of punching a time clock again?

   Raheim has just officially entered his thirties -- and, unfortunately, has the one gray hair to prove it. And after years of coming this close to getting roles won by the likes of Taye Diggs and Mekhi Phifer, he is finally offered the lead in a film that could make him a star. But will he do what no other Black actor has done before: play gay and come out in the process?

• Back 2 Back: An Anthology (1997)
  Featuring the Best-Sellers B-Boy Blues and 2nd Time Around

Other

• Spike Lee: Filmmaker (1995)
  Provides an overview of the life and works of the African American filmmaker.

• Boyz II Men (1996)
  Describes the development of the music group that was the first to break Elvis Presley's record for length as number one on the pop chart.

• Fag Gags (2000) with Hassan X and Michael-Christopher, Illustrator
  A cross between the Unofficial Gay Manual and the SNAPS! series, Fag Gags: Reads By, For & About The Children celebrates, as its introduction states, the "crass wit, unquestionable timing, and acid tongues" of Black same-gender-loving men. Hardy and his co-author, Hassan X, have compiled a host of hilarious one-liners that poke fun at many figures inside (The "Blundering Ball Queen") and outside (The "Chocoholic") of African-American gay circles. While some of the gags will be familiar to non-Black and non-gay readers (on the "Frustrated Female," who can't understand why any man would "choose" to be gay, the authors declare: "Honee, I am more woman that you'll ever be and more man than you'll ever get!"), others are taken from the contemporary Black gay scene (on the "Homiesexual," the Brutha who just doesn't think he is all man but the Man: "You're on the down low? Ha, don't you mean you get down low?").

See also:

• Shade: An Anthology of Fiction by Gay Men of African Descent (1996), Bruce Morrow and Charles H. Rowell, eds.

• Power, money, and sex(uality): The Black Masculine Paradigm (Richard Wright, Claude Brown, Nathan McCall, James Earl Hardy) (2006) by Kendric Coleman
  This study develops the Black Masculine Paradigm (BMP), a construct used to trace historically specific components that inform black masculinity and explores the physical and psychological defensive strategies employed by black men in Richard Wright\'s Black Boy, Claude Brown\'s Manchild in the Promisedland, Nathan McCall\'s Make Me Wanna Holler, and James Earl Hardy\'s B-Boy Blues . Specifically, this project offers that power, money, and sex(uality) are located at the core of the BMP, and these social objectives are negotiated through politicization, prescribed masculinity, and heterosexuality. This project reads the politicization of the black male body through its presence in literature and film. Adding to work included by literary and cultural studies scholars, the study has social and psychological dimensions that suggest an alternate form of black masculinity as well. The study reveals that these strategies affect the black males\' economic, social and physical movement, and creates a corrupt national narrative that is informed and disrupted by racism.