Seduced

by Nelson George

"[A] smart, funny, and wonderfully resonant novel . . . It's the 1980s, and aspiring songwriter Derek Harper is a man easily seduced. Not only do the Big Three *money, fame, and women *keep him running, but Harper falls prey to subtler forms of seduction as the ease of rationalizing bad behavior, abdicating responsibility, and keeping the whole world at arm's length. All these issues are brilliantly interwoven with a behind-the-scenes look at the music industry, particularly the evolution of rap."

*Los Angeles Times Book Review



"Seduced is at its most compelling when author Nelson George delves into the differences between life in the projects and the middle-class heaven of St. Albans and how it evolved over thirty years. . . . George's style is, well, seductive, luring the reader into a world that takes in the range of black experience funneled through the music industry."

*St. Petersburg Times



"Seduced shows Nelson George at the top of his game doing what he does zinging the black music biz. The road chapters alone have enough shrill wit, stabbing satire, and tight accuracy to parallel the life of anyone who's ever been out there during the Reagan-stressed '80s."

*Houston Chronicle



"In Seduced, Nelson keeps it real. This is a sex story, a New York story, and a music biz story rolled into one, starring a humble, beautifully average middle-class dreamer, who's not unlike a male version of a Terry McMillan heroine."

*Touré

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 21, 1996

About the author

Nelson George is an author, filmmaker, television producer, and critic with a long career in analyzing and presenting the diverse elements of African-American culture.

Queen Latifah won the Golden Globe for playing the lead in his directorial debut, the HBO movie 'Life Support'. The critically acclaimed drama looked at the effects of HIV on a troubled black family in his native Brooklyn, New York. He recently co-edited, with Alan Leeds, 'The James Brown Reader (Plume)', a collection of previously published articles about the Godfather of Soul that date as far back the late '50s. Plume published the book in May '08.

He is an executive producer on two returning cable shows: the third season of BET's American Gangster and the fifth airing of VH1's Hip Hop Honors. George is the executive producer of the Chris Rock hosted feature documentary, Good Hair, a look at hair weaves, relaxers and the international black hair economy that's premiering at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.


Nelson George serves as host of Soul Cities, a travel show that debuted in November 2008. on VH1 Soul. Nelson visited Los Angeles, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Memphis, New Orleans and the Bay Area. He eats food, visits historic sites, and hears lots of music. LaBelle, Robin Thicke, Babyface, Rafael Saadiq, Angie Stone and Jazmine Sullivan are among the many artists who talked with Nelson and perform. The second season starts shooting in Spring 2009.

Throughout the '80s and '90s George was an columnist for Billboard magazine and the Village Voice newspaper, work that led him to write a series of award winning black music histories: 'Where Did Our Love Go: The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound'; 'The Death of Rythm & Blues'; and 'Hip Hop America'. He won a Grammy for his contribution to the linear notes package on the James Brown 'Star Time' boxed set. George co-wrote 'Life and Def', the autobiography of his old friend Russell Simmons. He's also had a career writing fiction, including the bestselling 'One Woman Short', and the story, 'It's Never Too Late in New York', which has been in several anthologies of erotica.

As a screenwriter George co-wrote 'Strictly Business', which starred Halle Berry, and 'CB4', a vehicle for Chris Rock. His work with Rock led to his involvement with 'The Chris Rock Show', an Emmy award winning HBO late night series. He was an executive producer of Jim McKay's film, 'Everyday People', which premiered at the Sundance festival, and Todd Williams' Peabody award winning documentary 'The N Word'. In 2009 Viking will publish his memoir, 'City Kid', a look at the connections between childhood in Brooklyn and his adult career in Manhattan, Los Angeles and Detroit.

Reviews

[S. Reid]

I bought this book for a once-upon-a-time 'Special Friend' that had befriended me as I rode the bus on his route over twenty years ago, & he claimed that he "found it interesting".
I was relieved because I had bought it from the bookshelf at a Dollar Tree" store because I thought that 'he might find it interesting' to read.
All jokes aside for a moment. I only knew Nelson George as a music critic/author & hadn't previously known him to be a novelist until I spotted his book "SEDUCED" at Dollar Tree when the items truly were only a $1 each. I thought that it was underappreciated by whatever store that had it prior that landed it on the DT book store's shelf.
Because of this great find on DT's shelf I make sure that I visit & search the shelves at every DT store that I stop in originally for cheaper snacks just in case I run up on another under valued book!

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nearly 20 years later after this book had come out I finally read it. It was okay, music references and queens, my hometown, and growing up during the time of crack were interesting to read about. Just okay.

[KOMET · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who grew up in the era described in this novel (i.e. the era spanning from the 1960s to the late 1980s), I found it fascinating to see the experiences Derek Harper had as an aspiring songwriter in the music business. Harper was "an R&B [rhythm & blues] purist and struggling songwriter tying to sell soul without losing his soul" in a business promising fame and fortune to those seeking to succeed and thrive within it. Yet, more often than not, it is the music business, as Harper comes to learn, that is not without its sharks and exploiters in the guise of executives and promoters who shamelessly use up people like him with its lure of "money, fame, and women."