People Who Died: E. Lynn Harris, 1955-2009

R.I.P. E. LYNN HARRIS, 1955-2009

I was saddened to learn that author E. Lynn Harris died on Thursday, July 23, 2009 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA of undisclosed causes. Openly gay himself, Harris's novels about the experiences of gay black men (often living in the closet or "on the down-low"), beginning with the self-published 1994 novel Invisible Life, became surprising popular and influential on black literature and mass-market literature in general.

Though Harris's writing wasn't considered prestigious or "literary" by critics or peers, it was a remarkable accomplishment to write about the black gay community, which continues to be a taboo subject, and have the audacity to be successful at it. Harris self-published "Invisible Life" in 1991 and sold it out of the trunk of his car, punk rock style. According to the New York Times, Harris attempted to persuade booksellers to sell his book in their stores, and was given the advice to get a New York agent, which led him to an agent who was able to sell the book to Anchor Books, an imprint of Doubleday Books.

He subsequently went on to publish over twelve more books, ending with the novel Basketball Jones in 2009. I remember being in a Barnes and Noble when E. Lynn Harris was scheduled to read from one of his books and answer questions from what looked like a largely black and female clientele. There was an amazing excitement in the air over this man and his somewhat soapy but all-ballsy tales of deception and sexual intrigue. The literary world and the world at large have lost an original. R.I.P., E. Lynn Harris.

If you are interested in learning more about Harris's work, check out his website or an audio interview with Radiah Hubbert on her show "On The Line" featured on www.urban-reviews.com.

People Who Died: J.G. Ballard

J.G. BALLARD, 1930 - 2009, R.I.P.

I was very bummed to find out after coming back from Palm Springs that the English author J.G. Ballard died in London on April 19 of prostate cancer. Ballard was not only the author of the 1984 book Empire of the Sun, based on his own experiences of a WWII internment camp under the Japanese in China, which was adapted into the 1987 Steven Spielberg film starring Christian Bale, but he was also a hardcore sci-fi visionary, whose disturbing take on things is often summed up in the mainstream by his 1973 novel, Crash. For a lovely article on just how out-there Ballard's visions could get, and how he could really piss people off, check out Salon.

Crash, a story of car crash sexual fetishism, on which The Normal's 1978 song "Warm Leatherette" was based, was also adapted into a 1996 film by David Cronenberg that still upsets and perplexes folks to this day. I love the twisted originality of this story and another uniquely artistic voice bites the dust.

I'm putting up this 2006 live cover of "Warm Leatherette" by Nine Inch Nails featuring Peter Murphy of Bauhaus in tribute to the one and only Ballard. R.I.P.

Korn Has Accepted Jesus Christ as Its Personal Lord and Savior

I freely admit that I loved the tracksuit metal band Korn in the 90's. I can't bring myself to be pretentious and act as if I haven't seen them five times, sung along lustily to their song "A.D.I.D.A.S. (All Day I Dream About Sex)" from their 1996 album "Life Is Peachy," and declared their self-titled 1994 debut album "an unsung classic" on numerous occasions. I adored their crunchy, faux-hardcore, seven-string guitar sound, their unabashed allegiance to their fans and unbridled hedonism in the sometimes hedonism-shy 90's.

All of this makes it very perplexing that two members of Korn have given in their Satan's Army ID cards and handed their lives over to the Prince of Peace, Jesus. And they both have written books about it. Slate Magazine has a very interesting (if notably Korn-negative) article about the fact that Korn bassist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu has just put out the book Got The Life last month on the tail of Korn guitarist Brian "Head" Welch's 2007 memoir, Save Me From Myself.

I have yet to read these potentially juicy memoirs, but they are on hold for me at the library, so a review will be coming soon in my new feature about 90's-oriented books, "Turn The Page."

I don't agree with Slate writer James Parker's assertion that Korn as a band and a sound were DOA from the release of their 1994 album. Though I understand many diehard rock, metal and hardcore fans' objection to the band (including corporate record label invention of the abysmal moniker "nu-metal" to describe their unusual riff-based guitar sound), I still really love the angry, painful yet ebullient rebelliousness of their music, especially their debut, "Korn."

Though I will probably end up doing a "I Can't Believe You Don't Own This F%#kin' Record" post on each of Korn's 90's records, I felt the Holy Spirit and it told me to play you guys a couple of songs off of their first album. Enjoy!





Korn - "Clown" from their 1994 record, "Korn"