In 2000, Douglas A. Martin burst onto the American literary scene with his sexy debut novel, Outline of My Lover. Following up with three more books, including Branwell, a novel of the Brontë brother, Martin has established himself as an acclaimed and distinctive American writer of the new century. His semi-autobiographical novel Once You Go Back is about growing up in a strained working-class household transplanted to the South. In his inimitably elliptical and evocative style, Martin carefully brings out the curiosity of children on the verge of becoming sexual, and their confusion in the midst of family violence.
Once You Go Black is first and foremost a study of a group of black American intellectuals, primarily male, who came to prominence after World War II. At the same time, it is an endeavor to reconsider black Americans as agents, and not simply products, of history. Following the existentialist maxim that experience precedes essence, Robert Reid-Pharr contends that our current notions of black American identity are not inevitable, nor have they been forced on the black community. Instead, he argues, black American intellectuals have actively chosen the identity schemes that seem to us so natural or "God-given" today. In Once You Go Black, Reid-Pharr turns first to the late and relatively unknown novels of the three most prominent Black American writers of the mid-twentieth century-Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, and James Baldwin. He suggests that each of these authors rejects the idea of the black as innocent, insisting instead upon responsibility within modern society. Reid-Pharr then examines a number of responses to this presumed erosion of black innocence, paying particular attention to articulations of black masculinity by Huey Newton, one of the two founders of the Black Panther Party, and Melvin Van Peebles, director of the classic film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song.Shuttling between queer theory, intellectual history, literary close readings, and autobiography, Once You Go Black is a bold, eloquent, and impassioned call to bring the language of choice into the study of black American literature and culture.
Whoever came up with the phrase "colder than a witch's teat" never had to deal with one's heart. That, friends, is ice. Demons aren't supposed to be able to love, but try convincing Jerry Romani of that. He never stood a chance when the sexy witch, Riona Dade, came walking into his afterlife. But damnation isn't a stroll in the park, and just when you think you couldn't suffer anymore, the universe proves how much of idiotic dotard you are. Jerry had hoped his love for Riona was the reason he found himself sprung from Hell and returned to the land of the living. Could it be he'd actually get a chance to pursue the object of his affection? Big freaking no on that one. Know what hurts more than being a resurrected, formerly-vanquished demon loving someone who doesn't love you? Being forced to possess the body of the last man your paramour did love, all while dealing with your ex-bosses, aka the fallen angels known as the Grigori, stirring up trouble in the form of demonic rodeos and impish endeavors. But Jerry knows his heart, and he understands Riona better than she could ever believe. It's just a matter of time before he wears her down and wins her over. Bends her over? He gets those two things confused sometimes. But just as Project Woo-a-Witch starts bearing some forbidden fruit, destiny delivers one hell of a bitch slap. Jerry may have been sent back to Earth to do something Riona can't, something that will ensure the only thing he'll be kissing where she's concerned is his ass goodbye.
An unusual murder. An unusual town. And deadly secrets... Martial artist and ex-special forces member Orlando Black is traveling through Alabama. All he wants is to keep the vow he made to himself. Black struggles to keep his promise when a bigot sheriff of a small town wrongfully puts him in cuffs. Now he has to work with a sheriff deputy to uncover the truth behind his arrest while trying to maintain his cool.
Once You Go This Far is the fourth thrilling mystery from Shamus Award-winning and Anthony and Macavity Award-nominated author Kristen Lepionka. Junior-high school nurse Rebecca Newsome was an experienced hiker—until she plummeted to her death at the bottom of a ravine in a Columbus metro park. Her daughter, Maggie, doesn't believe it was an accident, and Rebecca's ex-husband is her prime suspect. But he's a well-connected ex-cop and Maggie is certain that's the reason no one will listen to her. PI Roxane Weary quickly uncovers that the dead woman's ex is definitely a jerk, but is he a murderer? As she pieces together the days before Rebecca died, what Roxane finds doesn't quite add up. From a series of trips to Detroit and across the border to a casino in Windsor, Canada, to strange calls from Rebecca's home to a charismatic political candidate, to a women's health organization, to a secretive church group that seems to have more information about its members than it should, Roxane needs to figure out how everything is connected before a dangerous secret gets someone else killed.
Carly Gelsinger is an awkward and lonely thirteen-year-old when she stumbles into Pine Canyon Assemblies of God, the cracked stucco church on the outskirts of her remote small town. She assimilates, despite her apprehensions, because she is desperate to belong. Soon, she is on fire for God. She speaks in tongues, slays demons, and follows her abusive pastor’s every word―and it’s not until her life is burnt to the ground that she finds the courage to leave. Raw and illuminating,Once You Go In is a coming-of-age tale about the beauty and danger of absolute faith, and the stories people tell themselves to avoid their deepest fears.
Preliminary Material -- PROLOGUE -- ONENESS AND DEATH -- ONENESS AND SELF-REALIZATION -- LOVE AND MEDITATION -- INTENTIONALITY AND RATIONALITY -- LIMITS OF LANGUAGE -- THE DISPLACEMENT OF SELF -- FOR FURTHER READING -- ABOUT THE AUTHOR -- INDEX -- VIBS.
