Black Gay Man: Essays

by Robert F. Reid-Pharr, Samuel R. Delany

At turns autobiographical, political, literary, erotic, and humorous, Black Gay Man will spoil our preconceived notions of not only what it means to be black, gay and male but also what it means to be a contemporary intellectual. Both a celebration of black gay male identity as well as a powerful critique of the structures that allow for the production of that identity, Black Gay Man introduces the eloquent new voice of Robert Reid-Pharr in cultural criticism.

At once erudite and readable, the range of topics and positions taken up in Black Gay Man reflect the complexity of American life itself. Treating subjects as diverse as the Million Man March, interracial sex, anti-Semitism, turn of the century American intellectualism as well as literary and cultural figures ranging from Essex Hemphill and Audre Lorde to W.E.B. DuBois, Frantz Fanon and James Baldwin, Black Gay Man is a bold and nuanced attempt to question prevailing ideas about community, desire, politics and culture. Moving beyond critique, Reid-Pharr also pronounces upon the promises of a new America. With the publication of Black Gay Man, Robert Reid-Pharr is sure to take his place as one of this country's most exciting and challenging left intellectuals.

Genres: LGBT, Nonfiction, Essays, Queer Lit, Queer, Politics

208 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2001

About the author

Robert F. Reid-Pharr is Professor of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Harvard University. He is the author of four books: Archives of Flesh: African America, Spain, and Post-Humanist Critique (NYU Press, 2016), Once You Go Black: Choice, Desire, and the Black American Intellectual (NYU Press, 2007), Black Gay Man: Essays (NYU Press, 2001), and Conjugal Union: The Body, the House, and the Black American (1999).

Reviews

[Cass · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a shame these essays are so obscure because they present radical yet illuminating perspectives on race, sexuality, and gender, as well as all their intersections. I am not exaggerating when I say what was written in this book legitimately changed my perspective on the world. The overall theme (or at least what I could parse) is that the labels/power structures we use to categorize our world/society, such as race, gender, sex, and sexuality, are not definite boundaries but rather they are subject to circumstance. This is most readily seen in the essay entitled "Living as a Lesbian," in which Reid-Pharr explores the connections between his experience as a black gay man with black gay women.
One of his thesises that most struck me was the the label "black American" is redundant because the black American is the epitome of the American experience. I keep coming back to this idea and find that it is less opinion and more fact.
Definitely a book that deserves a reread, if only (and this is a big if) because they are so dense.

[jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

reading this book is like falling in love. erudite yet touching again and again.