I Say a Little Prayer

by E. Lynn Harris

Bestselling author E. Lynn Harris is back with another sexy, shocking, and immensely satisfying novel that explores some of today’s toughest and most timely issues.

Chauncey Greer is the owner of Cute Boy Card Company, a thriving company in Atlanta. As a teenager, he was a member of a popular boy band, but left in disgrace when word got out that he and his bandmate D were more than good friends. Chauncey is a free spirit, on the brink of forty with a body admired by both men and women. Not into being categorized, Chauncey’s been known to hook up with men and women, but now in the age of the “down low,” he’s found that women ask too many questions, so he’s just focusing on the fellas.

After one too many bad dates, Chauncey finds himself in church, where the minister’s message inspires him to follow his dream of a singing career once again. Although he’s lost touch with D, as he starts writing songs his thoughts inevitably turn to his former lover. Chauncey’s powerful performance at the church earns him a standing ovation and an invitation to participate in an upcoming revival. But Chauncey soon discovers that an ambitious fundamentalist preacher plans to use the revival to speak out against gays and gay marriage. Feeling angry and betrayed, Chauncey and other gay members of the church decide to take a stand against the church’s homophobia by staging a “Day of Absence” when all of the gay members and their friends and family stay home. Everything is going as planned... until D appears on the scene and Chauncey has to confront his past and make some hard decisions about his future.

I Say A Little Prayer is filled with the delicious plot twists, humor, compassion, and up-to-the-minute controversy fans expect from their beloved “E. Lynn.” Harris has returned with another gem of a novel that will rocket to the top of bestseller lists nationwide.

Genres: Fiction, African American, Romance, LGBT, Gay, Religion, M M Romance

296 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

E. Lynn Harris was born in Flint, Michigan and raised, along with three sisters, in Little Rock, Arkansas. He attended the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville where he was the school's first black yearbook editor, the first black male Razorbacks cheerleader, and the president of his fraternity. He graduated with honors with a degree in journalism.

Harris sold computers for IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and AT&T for thirteen years while living in Dallas, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. He finally quit his sales job to write his first novel, Invisible Life, and, failing to find a publisher, he published it himself in 1991 and sold it mostly at black-owned bookstores, beauty salons, and book clubs before he was "discovered" by Anchor Books. Anchor published Invisible Life as a trade paperback in 1994, and thus his career as an author officially began.

Invisible Life was followed by Just As I Am (1994), And This Too Shall Pass (1996), If This World Were Mine (1997), Abide with Me (1999), Not A Day Goes By (2000), Any Way the Wind Blows (2001), A Love of My Own (2002), I Say A Little Prayer (2006), Just Too Good To Be True (2008), Basketball Jones(2009), and Mama Dearest(2009),all published by Doubleday, and In My Father's House(2010), published by St. Martin's Press. Ten of Harris's novels hit the New York Times bestseller list, and his books have also appeared on the bestseller lists of the Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. In 2003, Harris published his first work of nonfiction, a memoir entitled What Becomes of the Brokenhearted, which was also a New York Times bestseller. Today, there are more than four million copies of his books in print.

Harris's writing also appeared in Essence, Washington Post Sunday Magazine, and Sports Illustrated, as well as in the award-winning anthology Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America, Go The Way Your Blood Beats. His novella, "Money Can't Buy Me Love" was published in Got To Be Real: Four Original Love Stories. Freedom in This Village, a collection of short stories edited by Harris, was released in the fall of 2004. His short fiction appeared in Gumbo: A Celebration of African American Writers (Harlem Moon), a 2002 collection he edited with writer Marita Golden.

Harris won numerous accolades and prizes for his work. Just As I Am was awarded the Novel of the Year Prize by the Blackboard African-American Bestsellers, Inc. If This World Were Mine was nominated for a NAACP Image Award and won the James Baldwin Award for Literary Excellence. Abide with Me was also nominated for a NAACP Image Award. His anthology Freedom in this Village won the Lambda Literary Award in 2005. In 1999, the University of Arkansas honored Harris with a Citation of Distinguished Alumni for outstanding professional achievement, and in October 2000 he was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame. He was named to Ebony's "Most Intriguing Blacks" list, Out Magazine's "Out 100" list, New York Magazine's "Gay Power 101" list, and Savoy's "100 Leaders and Heroes in Black America" list. Other honors included the Sprague Todes Literary Award, the Harvey Milk Honorary Diploma, and The Silas Hunt Award for Outstanding Achievement from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

Harris was a member of the Board of Directors of the Hurston/Wright Foundation and the Evidence Dance Company. He was the founder of the E. Lynn Harris Better Days Foundation, a nonprofit company that provides support to aspiring writers and artists.

E. Lynn Harris passed away in 2009.

http://us.macmillan.com/inmyfathersho...

Reviews

[Katie M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, so E. Lynn Harris wasn't a talented writer. But that's not why anyone reads him anyways. People read his books because they tell the stories of Black men who are OMG SUCCESSFUL! And GAY! Or SEXUALLY CONFLICTED! And who fall in love with OTHER GAY BLACK MEN! And there are HAPPY ENDINGS! In other words, stories that you mostly can't find anywhere else in the entire universe of mainstream published literature, because mainstream published literature doesn't think these stories are worth publishing. For that alone, I refuse to give anything he wrote less than three stars. (Even though, bless his dear departed heart, the prose is just so bad that I can't quite bring myself to ever give him more than three stars...)

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a re-read. I think i first read this maybe 3 years ago. The audiobook is still on my iPod so I took a second go-round with it and found myself liking it less! I am removing it from my Favorites.

Let's be honest, the late E. Lynn Harris was a great storyteller but a pretty terrible author. You are certainly not expanding on your vocabulary after reading any of his works. I think he would have been perfect to 'write' reality shows. I Say a Little Prayer is no different.

Regarding the author, the characters fit every stereotype about Blacks, Gays, Baptists and Southerners that you can think up. Not to mention the Gays always seem to outsmart the Heterosexuals. Why is that? There are plenty of pretty dumb Gays who make poor judgements about people just as is with anyone else.

This novel is also yet another stretched out short story. Harris makes sure to place in familiar background characters from other novels for the fans, which is fine. But there are back-stories that are told here that do not move the novel along at all. Sylar's teen drag queen trilogy could have been told in one sitting, for example. I did enjoy the witty banter of Sylar but did not appreciate his animosity to females.

The main character, I realized in Round 2's reading, is a very material and label conscious type of man. It was never just a scarf or pants--we had to know the designer, the retailer and the price of such items. Why is this important? There is some actual growth in this person, thankfully. Starting out so self-absorbed and sex-crazed was getting to be uncomfortable.

I would be concerned if someone read this novel and said to themselves "I see now, so that is how Black Gay Men feel and think..." Granted that is an ignorant person to assume something so silly but unfortunately I'm positive this book has made such an impression on those folks.

Again this is a fun story with great characters but with poor writing. Enjoy.

[Shirley Torrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the author did a fine job in keeping with the characters in the novel.

[Jonathan David Pope · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main character is this one, I just really couldn't jive with. It was very heavy on the religion side, which served its purpose for the plot, but Chauncey's judgmental nature contradicted a good chunk of his religious beliefs. He was very self-centered, misogynistic, colorist, always slut-shaming (but still sleeping with men in relationships), and making disparaging remarks about other gay men (including those he called his friends). E. Lynn Harris creates characters that are like some of the most irritating people I know, which is why I can't say that his stories are ever...unrealistic. But this one, while it had the drama that I love, was full of a lot of shit that just does not age well.

[KamariLyrikal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a PK aka a preachers kid and i'm part of the lgbt community so this was a very relatable book to me. It wasn't full of action but it was a nice interesting story that reminded me of a normal day in my life or my family's lives. Overall not bad.

[Jay DeMoir · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty mediocre in comparison to other Harris novels.

[panjabicommie · Rating 2 out of 5]

okay so i had to read this book for one of my courses and it was a painfully lib read lmao. i don't want to waste too much time breaking down this book for this review- i will just say that it is not worth spending your time on. it had some decent themes like found family in the context of the main character's workplace and it touched on homophobia within religious institutions (specifically churches). but the entire book was about how the mc character is bisexual and hot asf and everyone wants him but he only wants men because he thinks that women are too much work. he shits on other people but is a shitty person himself at the same time. he is literally colorist too. also he shits on women for being dramatic with their husbands and being nosy ALL WHILE CHEATING W MEN WHO ARE IN RELATIONSHIPS. the ending of this book has one of the characters realizing she needs to vote dem instead of republican LMAOOOO THIS SHIT WAS SOOOOO TWO PARTY SYSTEM CODED FML

[Sidharthan · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want a pot-boiler and if you'd prefer something gay, E. Lynn Harris is definitely the man for you! I was once again mesmerized by the way he skillfully manages the plot. I was hooked till the very last page.

The book is filled to the brim with quirky and well-written characters who sound believable off the page. We have so many sub-plots that are there misdirects, but are engaging on their own. Now there are some conveniences, but E. Lynn Harris is so good you hardly even notice them.

Overall another great read and an author I will definitely be revisiting. I never thought I'd enjoy a book that's so much about religion!

[Jay Dionne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 ⭐️ I think that reading this in 2025 was a bad move for me. After reading this I’m left feeling like this man is not too fond of Black women. Just blow after blow to us and for what?! I don’t think I want to keep this book on my shelves. It’s just not a good reflection of the person I am or the type of books I want to represent how I read. I’m happy this wasn’t my first book by this author because this really left a bad taste in my mouth. I give 3 chances, so I’ll be reading one more book from his catalog to see if this author is just not for me.

[Ky Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book that I couldn’t put down once I had started! My fiancé even asked one night what are you reading because I hadn’t been reading before. I decided I have way too many books that I haven’t read so why not start now! And it was worth the start!!!

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

E Lynn was such a prolific storyteller! I always find something that I enjoy in his books. I love how he allowed us a window into the homosexual culture. I Say a Little Prayer allowed us a glimpse into the duplicity of spiritual leaders in the Black Church.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was entertaining although I felt the story was drawn out in the beginning and quickly wrapped up in the end. If you have nothing else to read and you want a quick story this book may be for you.

[Ta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the storyline and subplots. Made good points. Left a few questions lingering.

[Luther Bacon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very explosive book! I enjoyed this book, for one the characters were business savvy and believed in having their own. Two, this happens all the time!

[Aprel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story...enjoyed hearing about bisexual men and spirituality...how they navigate that.

[Tish Tish · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring boring boring! I didn’t even finish it.

[Dana Veronica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed! I Am E. Lynn Harris fan and this book just wasn’t it

[Caylee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was boring nothing even happened

[Asia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED it. One of my favorite books so far.

[Robert L. Blanding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Book

This book was really good. The main character Chauncey has been through a lot but he is a soul survivor.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book

Mr Harris was a great writer and he would truly be missed, as for the book great like all the rest

[Chapter Completed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Easy Read

Very good and easy plane read. Love that characters from other series were incorporated in the novel as well as the plot.

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

E. Lynn Harris, I Say a Little Prayer (Doubleday, 2006)

I wasn't quite understanding all the flap surrounding this book until very recently, when an African-American friend of mine who lives in California expressed outrage at the fact that Proposition 8 (the anti-gay-marriage proposition) was passed largely because, according to polls, seventy percent of the state's black voters turned out in support of it. Suddenly things got a lot clearer where I Say a Little Prayer is concerned, and I understand a lot more of the reason Harris felt compelled to write this novel. Like many others, I have to say I'm glad he did. This is quite a good little book, even if it does gets tangled up in its own message now and again.

The story focuses on Chauncey Greer, a bisexual black man who's decided that women are more trouble than they're worth, and so has decided to just date men. Problem is, he's got a bad relationship skeleton in the closet, and so these days his life, while successful on the outside, is littered with a string of unsatisfying relationships. Everything goes to hell when that old flame, Sweet D, arrives in town in order to recruit Chauncey to sing at a tent revival. Which is nothing too terrible—Chauncey and D were originally members of the same boy band—until Chauncey realizes that the minister holding the revival whips his members into a frenzy with his strong anti-gay agenda, and that D seems to be part and parcel of the anti-gay package. Clearly, there's a lot more going on under the hood than Chauncey had originally realized. In order to try and fight back against this hatred, Chauncey, in turn, tries to whip up his own congregation, but finds resistance there as well. What's a gay man—and a religious one, to boot—to do?

While Harris is pretty obviously on the outside of all this looking in, he refuses to give in to stereotypes most of the time, and draws his characters with sensitivity, be they gay, bi, or straight, and his plot is compelling enough that he could well just sit back and let the novel write itself, given the strong characterization. Unfortunately, he wants to dabble a time or two in speechifying, but that is little reason not to enjoy the rest of this novel. Homophobes will obviously have a problem with it, but recommended for everyone who actually has a shred of a brain. *** ½

[Jon O · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Say A Little Prayer is the second E. Lynn Harris's book I have read. The first being Just As I Am. I know there are many fans of Raymond's series with Just As I Am being the second book in the series. Frankly, I prefer I Say A Little Prayer. I was happy to know that this book was written from only one character's struggle - Chauncey, who has to face the problems associated with a love from his earlier life. This is better compared to Just As I Am, which alternated each chapter with two lead characters. Another thing that makes me prefer this book than Just is that it is less depressing. 'Just' deals with AIDS, and I don't read to feel depressed. However, I find 'Prayer' a little too fast at the end, where the twist in the story is a little too much for me to digest. There is no reason why Damien's wife's past is not known by many, if she is painted to be such. Or even the sudden switch of her wanting to be 'evil'. Although I read only the second book, I would prefer there would be no 'special guest star' from his other books. Lame. Other than that, I found myself looking forward to spending time with the book, eagerly turning the page to find out what would happen next.

[Lei · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Say A Little Prayer is an ambitious novel by E.Lynn Harris. Harris focused on a very explosive topic that no one in the black church wants to talk about: gays and lesbians in the church. I thought this topic was presented delicately and honestly in this story. I felt the emotion and conviction of Chauncey as he was trying to live his life and trying to do what God wants him to do. Readers will be moved by this story. Fans of this author's previous novels will be pleasantly surprised when two other characters Basil and Yancey make a brief appearance in this novel. But make no mistake, this is not another chapter into the lives of Basil and Raymond. This story is about Chauncey Greer. After reading this novel, I felt like E. Lynn Harris may be taking his writing into a delightful new direction. I Say A Little Prayer is a satisfying, heart wrenching story that doesn't disappoint.
Filled with the plot twists, humor, and provocative insights readers expect from Harris. Like his last three novels, it is sure to rocket to the top of bestseller lists nationwide.

[Wade · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a charming, quick read that tackles some serious issues. I appreciate that E. Lynn Harris doesn't shy away from his perspective on religion and spirituality in this novel, from the perspective of an African-American bisexual man in Atlanta. There were times when I appreciated the all-successful protagonist (a familiar type from another of Harris's books) who is outrageously handsome, sexy, and successful - and from an attractive and successful family - who hooks up with other outrageously handsome and sexy men. There were other times when the descriptions got in the way of the story. The characters are a bit over-broadly drawn, but not without depth. There is, of course, the effeminate friend (who has the best scene in the book, in his reaction to the protagonist's first solo in church). And the conflict that ultimately resolves in a satisfactory, but not perfect, way. A great read that tackles a heavy issue without being too heavy itself.

[Gw]

I started reading E. Lynn waay back in like 01. I was in my 20's. I have changed quite a bit. As I pick up my reading now from a long hiatus. I've been throwing away a lot of BS I read back then and some books I purchased back then but didn't get to. ELH, is not BS if I remember correctly. As I said a lot has changed. My kids are much older, my world views, and morals have had to change as I have grown and they have grown. There are some feelings and thoughts that have always been with me but some of those feelings and thoughts have been brought closer to the surface now.
I respect ELH as an author. He was a decent writer. As I began this book I realized I could not finish it. I will not rate it. I didn't read enough of it to give it a rating. It is it not the book for me. I'll leave it at that.

[Karltario]

There were several tones to this book. The emotion that was evoked the most was suspense. The author had many flashbacks in the storyline, all filled with suspense.

At first I was upset, but I understood the madness, it makes you want to keep reading the book. So I think the author accomplish his goal and did a great job.

He most definately build the characters by using descriptive adjectives and phrases instead of just saying who they were. I would suggests though, not to have so many flashbacks because it was a little annoying. My mind would be focused on one story and here goes another sub-storyline.

[Hoong · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second E. Lynn Harris novel that I read. It is quite entertaining with slight a touch of eroticism and some obscenity, much less than what I'd be exposed to if I were to watch a movie with Black American characters. I'd consider this a gay mystery novel. The "gay" is just because most of the characters are gay; they are no pornographic depictions anywhere. It would be safe to have teens read it in high school. E. Lynn Harris is one good novelist who writes about gay and straight characters.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read. It isn't a book written for the prose, as just about every other reviewer here notes, it's written for the story (and even that's a bit thin at times). But, like most of the other reviewers here note, there's an important aspect to the book: innocuous stories of successful black gay men. That, in and of itself, is reason enough for the book.
I hated the villain, and not because they were so evil, but because they were just a caricature. And that's all I'll say about the writing.