E. Lynn Harris's Invisible Life Trilogy

"Harris is a great storyteller who knows how to tug on the heartstrings with wit and sensitivity." --USA Today

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Just As I Am

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Abide with Me

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The Invisible Life Trilogy

At the center of the Invisible Life trilogy is Raymond Tyler, a man struggling to do the right thing without betraying his past or sacrificing his dreams. The son of a successful lawyer in Birmingham, Alabama, Raymond always assumed he would follow in his father's footsteps. His life takes an unexpected turn, however, when he finds himself attracted to a handsome fraternity brother at college. Their carefully cloaked relationship--at once confusing, exhilarating, and frightening--marks the first step in Raymond's journey toward self-discovery and self-acceptance. It is a journey that takes him from the tradition-bound South to the uninhibited world of gay Manhattan, to a thriving Seattle, where his legal career and his love-life seem destined for lasting success. Along the way, Raymond encounters a rich and diverse array of people, including the flamboyant, openly gay Kyle; the beautiful, loving Nicole, an aspiring actress; and Basil, a dashing and dangerous football player. Their stories join with Raymond's in a fast-paced chronicle that proves that love, friendship, and sexual desire frequently defy conventional expectations and explanations.

Harris's novels not only recount the changes and choices the individual characters confront, they evoke in telling detail the society in which those choices are made. From the importance of church and family to the consequences of biases based on skin color, sexual orientation, and gender, Harris uncovers the ties that bind and the issues that divide the African American community today.

For discussion: Invisible Life

1. Raymond is initially upset by his sexual encounter with Kelvin, but soon settles into a routine of seeing both Sela and Kelvin [p. 30]. Would he have behaved the same way if he were seeing two women simultaneously? Do you think Sela would have been aware of his unfaithfulness if his relationship was with another woman, rather than a man? How does the clandestine nature of Raymond's relationship with Kelvin influence their feelings about one another?

2. Raymond says "There were times, however, I needed Sela, not just for public appearances, but because deep in my heart I truly cared for her" [p. 34]. Is he being completely honest with himself, or is he clinging to an image of himself as a heterosexual? Why is he unable to tell Kelvin that he loves him?

3. In what ways are Raymond's reactions to the gay community in New York similar to his feelings about being a black man at a white high school and college? Do you think Raymond's sense of himself as an "outsider" is inevitable for minorities in a predominantly white and straight society?

4. Why is Kyle, whose background is similar to Raymond's, able to be perfectly open about being gay? What does Kyle's choice of lovers who are "not his equal in looks, economic standing or intelligence" [p. 74] reveal about him?

5. How does Raymond's visit to his parents help you understand his difficulties in coming to terms with his bisexuality? Why can't he and his mother talk openly about it? Do the events of the weekend, as well as conversations Raymond and his father have throughout the book, justify Raymond's feeling that his father would take his sexual orientation as "a personal slap in the face" [p. 88]?

6. What was your reaction to Raymond and Quinn's conversation about their successful efforts to remain "undercover gay guys" [p. 132]? Is their behavior strictly a private matter? Does their willingness to tolerate anti-gay jokes and comments make them accomplices in perpetuating society's prejudices? Do Quinn's deception of his wife and Raymond's decision to let Nicole assume he is straight [p. 143] reflect a lack of respect for women?

7. As a professional athlete and public figure, is it essential for Basil to keep his bisexuality a secret? Do athletes and other people in the public eye risk more than ordinary people when they come out? Discuss both the negative and positive repercussions of recent disclosures of homosexuality by famous people.

8. In thinking about Basil and other black men who lead secret lives, Raymond says "Had I stayed in Alabama, my life would have been similar. There was no way I would involve my family in my gay lifestyle. Besides, I came to realize that it was a lifestyle and not my life" [p. 168]. Is sexuality merely a "lifestyle" or does it define us in a fundamental way? To what extent are Raymond and the other characters in the novel defined by their sexual behavior and their attitudes about sex and love?

9. Do you think there is a special affinity between beautiful and smart black women and gay or bisexual black men? How would you answer the questions Raymond raises when he is contemplating Kelvin and Candance's engagement and his own relationship with Nicole [p. 186]?

10. Do individual men, whether straight, gay, or bisexual, have an ethical or moral responsibility to be open about their sexuality with their partners, even when coming out may threaten their position in society and their futures? What role should women take in dealing with the AIDS epidemic?

For discussion: Just As I Am

1. At the beginning of the novel, both Raymond and Nicole are living celibate lives. Compare and contrast the reasons they give for making this choice. What role, for example, does fear play? How much does the desire for a "perfect love" influence them? Who do you think is more realistic about the possibility of finding a partner to trust and build a solid relationship with?

2. Raymond and Nicole alternate as narrators in Just As I Am. How does this enhance or detract from the flow of the book? Is Harris equally successful in creating their voices, or is one stronger or more believable than the other?

3. Raymond describes "a common syndrome in the black gay community, where nice, good-looking, educated black gay or bisexual men didn't mind being friendly, but would never date each other" [p. 12]. Why do you think this pattern developed?

4. Is Nicole overly concerned about the color of her skin? Is her image of herself a result of her upbringing in a Southern black community or are her beliefs about beauty and skin color shared by many African Americans? Is Nicole's mother's pleasure when Nicole does better than lighter-skinned girls in beauty contests a form of pride or of prejudice [p. 37]?

5. Why doesn't Nicole bring up race when she talks to her therapist about Pierce, the white man she is dating [p. 52]? Why is she both flattered and annoyed that Pierce compares her to Diahann Carroll? Do you think, as Nicole suggests, that race need not be an issue between two people who love each other? Later in the novel, Nicole asks herself "What type of black woman would be married to a white man? Is there a type?" [pp.120-121]. Is this a reflection of her doubts about Pierce or does it reveal her fundamental misgivings about interracial dating? Are there people who deliberately choose to go out with members of a different race, and if so, why do they make that choice?

6. When Raymond agrees to defend Basil in a lawsuit, Kyle says "You're actually promoting gay-bashing when you defend people like Basil" [p. 90]. Do you think this is a fair assessment? What are Raymond's motivations for taking on the case?

7. Nicole is hoping to get the lead in "To Tell the Truth," a play about Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas that Pierce is producing. Why does Harris use this use well-known incident as the basis for his fictional play? What parallels are there between the themes explored in the novel and the real-life questions that erupted during Thomas's congressional hearing?

8. Why didn't Kyle tell his friends that he was HIV positive? What does he mean when he says "Long story short, I didn't want to spend the rest of my life dying" [p. 188]? Kyle receives a lot of help and support from the gay white community but why not any from the African American community?

9. Much of Just As I Am focuses on the secrets the characters keep from one another. How do secrets--and lies--affect the characters as individuals and relationships among them? Which relationships are the most honest? The least honest?

10. Kyle says "I think God just gets mad with us when we get down here and try to be something we're not. I really think that pisses Him off" [p. 247] Is this message different from the teachings of traditional religions? How has the church shaped the attitudes, good and bad, of the various characters?

For discussion: Abide with Me

1. What does Basil hope to prove by stripping in front of his therapist [p. 16]? Why does he brag about leaving his date sitting in a restaurant? How are these two acts related? Are Basil's opinions about women and sex unusual or warped [pp. 30-31]? Do other men feel the same way, even if they hesitate to talk about it as openly as Basil does? Do you agree or disagree with Basil when he says, "I understand the power of sex. And once you understand something completely, you can control it" [p. 32]?

2. What techniques does Yancey use to ingratiate herself with Nicole? Is Nicole na•ve in accepting Yancey's friendship so readily? Yancey declares that after Albert, her high-school boyfriend, betrayed her "Every brother I meet is paying for what Albert did" [p. 54]. Do you think that Albert's marriage to a white woman made the situation more painful for Yancey than it would have been had he chosen a black wife? How do her opinions of men compare to Basil's views of women?

3. Trent is concerned that he won't get an assignment he wants because the project leader is a black woman. Are his fears understandable? Why does he say "you know how we can sometimes be our worst critics" [p. 63]? Are there examples of this tendency in the book? Have you encountered situations in which blacks are overly critical of other blacks? Do other groups exhibit the same behavior? Why do you think this happens?

4. Raymond and Trent briefly discuss getting married. Do you think that gay marriages should be legal? Why or why not?

5. After they meet an old friend of Nicole's at a restaurant, Nicole and Yancey talk about the way women compete with one another [p. 84]. How do their reactions to the "bad seeds" they've encountered differ? Is Nicole too forgiving of the actress the rest of the cast called "Evilene"? Was Yancey's "trick" for defeating her rival justifiable or unethical? How important is it for black women to stick together, particularly when it might entail sacrificing their own goals?

6. The NAACP withdraws its support of Raymond's nomination to back a candidate who "understands the needs of our community, especially on issues regarding the survival of the African-American family" [p. 95]. Is a gay candidate like Raymond incapable of understanding and supporting the basic values of the community? Can his partnership with Trent be defined as a "family"?

7. In what ways does Raymond Sr.'s objection to Kirby's involvement with an Asian woman parallel his discomfort with Raymond and Trent's relationship? Do members of minority groups have a moral obligation to date and/or marry within the group? Do interracial or interreligious marriages necessarily undermine individual cultures?

8. Why is Raymond so reluctant to confront Trent when he learns of his arrest? By betraying his promise to Trent to be open and honest, is Raymond betraying himself as well? What is the significance of the fight he has with his father about the situation? Is his father only concerned with Raymond's political future? Why does Raymond Sr. say "Stop letting people fuck you over, especially black folks"[p. 161]? What does this indicate about his own biases and beliefs?

9. When Raymond and Trent finally discuss Trent's infidelities, whose side are you on? Does Trent take their relationship too casually or is Raymond demanding a level of perfection that is impossible to achieve? Are the conflicts between Nicole and Jared more clear cut [pp. 284-285]? Do they handle them better than Raymond and Trent? Why is Nicole so ambivalent about starting a family? In addition to her reluctance to give up her career, what other factors contribute to her hesitations?

10. When she tells Raymond about his father's affair early in their marriage, Raymond's mother says "People sometimes do hurtful things just to get the other person's attention" [p. 291]. How does this relate to the events in the book? Are Basil's and Yancey's schemes, for example, mean-spirited and evil? Or are they desperate attempts to generate the attention and love that is missing from their lives?

For discussion of the Invisible Life Trilogy:

1. The title Harris chose for his first book--and eventually for the entire trilogy--echoes Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, a seminal work in African-American literature. How does the world Ellison describes compare to Harris's description of the African-American community today? Are the protagonists similar in any way? Does "Invisible Life" only refer to the lives of the gay and bisexual men, or does it encompass aspects of the women's lives as well?

2. Discuss the views of homosexuality you have encountered in your own life. Are most people more willing to accept racial and religious differences than sexual differences? Do gay black men and women suffer greater doubts and more guilt than gay whites? Why or why not? What cultural factors influence the way people feel and talk about sexuality? Did the novels change your own feelings about the gay community?

3. The characters' relationships with their parents is an important theme in the trilogy. What impact does her mother's criticism have on the choices Nicole makes and her image of herself? Is Basil's hostility toward women a result of being raised by his father? Do you think his father genuinely loved him? Why didn't his father succeed in teaching Basil "to be a man and to try and do what's right"? Is Peaches a believable character or is Harris's portrait of her too idealistic? Are you more sympathetic to Yancey when you find out how her mother treated her as a child?

4. Discuss the differences between the views on race, religion, and gender expressed by the two generations. How do they reflect the society in which each generation grew up? Do you think Americans are becoming more tolerant or that age-old prejudices still thrive?

Also by E. Lynn Harris, available from Anchor Books

• And This Too Shall Pass, a fast, funny, and ultimately inspiring novel, takes readers into the locker rooms and newsrooms of Chicago and into the hearts and minds of four people whose lives intertwine when Zurich, a promising young quarterback, is accused of rape by a sexy female sportscaster. Proving his innocence is complicated by Zurich's deep-seated ambivalence about his sexuality and by the romantic problems of both his beautiful lawyer and his very ambitious accuser. With the loyal support of a gay sportswriter and guided by the faith, love, and wisdom of his grandmother, Zurich survives the scandal and takes control of his own life for the first time.
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  0-385-48031-8

• If This World Were Mine is the story of four graduates of a prestigious black college who meet regularly to share their journals and cement their friendship. Leland, a psychiatrist, comforts and advises the others, even as he deals with his pain over the death of his lover from AIDS; Dwight, a computer engineer, rages about the racism he faces in a white world; Riley, a wife and mother, becomes increasingly frustrated by the lack of excitement and passion in her life; and Yolanda, a high-powered businesswoman, finds that her take-charge attitude is not enough to withstand the charms of the handsome pro football player John Henderson. When Yolanda introduces Henderson into the circle, hidden resentments and long-buried secrets explode, jeopardizing ties of love nurtured for almost twenty years.
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