The Harris Men

In a debut novel that incorporates his own personal family history, an author writes compassionately about Julius Harris, a fifty-five-year-old man recently diagnosed with cancer, who is determined to make amends for his past mistakes. 20,000 first printing.

YA-Having been diagnosed with terminal cancer, Julius Harris regrets the streak of selfishness that led him to leave his wife and three young sons 20 years earlier for some vague dream of excitement, and he wonders if it is too late to contact them. As Julius and his partner, Cathy, make their way from California to Chicago to see his sons, readers meet the men those three young boys have become. Austin, an attorney with a successful practice, is about to desert his wife and young children just as the father he adored had done. Marcus, a freelance graphic artist, is too afraid of the pain of desertion to risk falling in love, and seethes with hatred for his father. Caleb, the youngest, struggles to stay out of trouble while living with his girlfriend and their baby. Johnson shows the progression in each of the brothers' lives since that fateful day when their father left. The story of the ripple effect on family caused by the actions of individual members is universal in theme. Most young adult readers should find something in these African-American characters to which they can relate. The technique of presenting the story in flashbacks and present-day scenes, told from the alternating viewpoints of the sons and their father, keeps the narrative interesting and evenhanded in its perspective. A compelling look at the ramifications to a family bound by the dynamics of abandonment.
Carol DeAngelo, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

If situation tragedy were a television genre, Johnson's bittersweet and gently didactic first novel could be made into its flagship show. The three Harris boysAAustin, Marcus and CalebAtry with various success to live their adult lives as they daily contend with the repercussions of paternal abandonment and their mother's premature death. When Julius, their father in absentum, discovers he has 30 months left before cancer takes him, he decides to find the sons he hasn't seen since he left Chicago two decades ago. Austin, the eldest, who benefited most from Julius's time in the house, has become a lawyer: prosperous, emotionally withdrawn and suffering in the doldrums of a comfortable marriage and loving children. Marcus, the middle son, his mother's favorite, is a wary loner, a touch righteous and embittered that fate left him all alone to raise his younger brother, Caleb. For his part, Caleb carries on the legacy of precarious domestic arrangements. Self-hating and a self-designated black sheep, he struggles to support his girlfriend and to raise a young son. As we are introduced to the brothers Harris, Austin is leaving his young family; Marcus's fears about the pain implicit in intimacy are inhibiting him emotionally and Caleb, fleetingly buoyed by a job opportunity, is plunged again into desperation. Circumstances force the estranged brothers to reacquaint, and in this uneasy new relationship Julius finds them. His remorse, and the quickened neediness of his sons, brings these men closer than they have ever been. In unremarkable yet unfaltering prose, Johnson looks at the microcosm of one African-American family and in so doing bears sympathetic witness to the widespread American phenomenon of fatherless households and absent role models. Agent, Elizabeth Ziemska at Nicholas Ellison.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

An effortful first novel that features an African-American father seeking reconciliation with the sons he abandoned 20 years earlier. Julius Harris, diagnosed with terminal cancer as the story opens, begins a campaign to make peace with his three sons, now grown men in their 30s. In Chicago, the three have managed in one way or another to stay together in spite of serious problems: the oldest, Austin, a successful lawyer whose growing responsibilities as father and husband have become a burden to him, separates from his wife and children; Caleb, an ex-con with a girlfriend and young son, cant seem to hold down a job, which jeopardizes his familydespite the efforts of beneficent African-American business owner Joseph Benning, who tries to give him a chance; and Marcus, the middle son, a graphic artist whose main role is to prevent Austin and Caleb from losing sight of each other, is motivated in the effort by his own fear of loss and abandonment by those he loves. From his home in California, father Juliusnever as deeply portrayed as his sonshears no response to his inquires about his offspring and arrives in Chicago just as Caleb is arrested and jailed for abetting in a bloody robbery. The final reconciliation is compassionately and believably described, with each mans guilt, resentment, and ego placed in clashing juxtaposition to that of the others. The depiction of the wives and girlfriends, even so, could use improvement: generally one-dimensional, the women are uniformly supportive, wise, and intuitively right about family matters. While the separate identities of the sons are firmly established, too many words and pages are devoted to their thoughts on topical or peripheral subjects, doing little service to the novels native identity or dramatic movement; and yet even with its flaws, this unevenly talented debut introduces an intriguing writer. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Twenty years after abandoning his three sons, Julius Harris, now dying of cancer, wants to become part of their lives. Austin, the eldest, is now a successful lawyer. Marcus is an artist, and Caleb, the youngest, struggles to support his girlfriend and young son. Each man traces various emotional and social problems to his fathers absence. Austin nearly goes the same route as his father when he decides he cant cope with his family. Marcus is afraid to love and be loved, and childish Caleb, rebelling against everything, makes one misguided life-changing decision after another. Julius returns to a less than warm welcome. First novelist Johnsons writing is clear and straightforward, though lengthy passages of dialog are sometimes repetitive. Readers will root for the underdog and welcome the subtle messages of this worthy addition to African American fiction collections. Johnson is an author to watch. Recommended for large libraries.Shirley Gibson Coleman, Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.