Omar Tyree Literature

Battlezone

Author: Tyree, Omar

Wilmington, Del.: Mars Productions, c1994, 233 p.
Notes:
Originally published: Colored, on white campus. Washington, D.C.: Mars Productions, 1992

Author Web Sites:
1. Omar Tyree’s Web Site : Tyree provides information about himself and his books.

Other titles associated with this book:
Battle zone
Colored, on white campus

ISBNs Associated with this Title:
1564110427

Credits:
• Novelist/EBSCO Publishing
• Added to NoveList: 20010101
• TID: 060059

Boss lady: a novel
Omar Tyree

Author: Tyree, Omar

Hollywood celebrity Tracy Ellison's personal assistant and cousin, Vanessa, oversees the trials and tribulations of a film production about Tracy's life.

New York: Simon & Schuster, c2005, 256 p.

Booklist Review: Since Flyy Girl was first published, in 1996, Tracy Ellison has matured from a 17-year-old Philadelphia boy-crazy teenager to a successful celebrity living large in superficial Hollywood. This new novel is told by Vanessa, Tracy’s younger cousin. After an unfortunate incident between Vanessa and her mother, Vanessa goes to Los Angeles to spend the summer with her older cousin, Tracy. Vanessa has the same no-nonsense, in-your-face attitude that Tracy displayed in her youth. After making L.A. her home, Vanessa earns her cousin’s trust and becomes Tracy’s personal assistant and confidant. Vanessa is fanatical about branding the Flyy Girl name into an international marketing blitz. Her enthusiasm and commitment impress Tracy enough to give the idea a chance. Vanessa and four of her girlfriends accompany Tracy to Philly for a Flyy Girl casting call. The huge turnout energizes the group and convinces Vanessa that the project must move forward. Tracy confides some of her future plans, which only fuel Vanessa’s drive and determination.
-- Lillian Lewis (BookList, 07-01-2005, p1903)

Publishers Weekly Review: Tracy Ellison Grant is in charge again in Tyree's latest Flyy Girl novel (after For the Love of Money and Flyy Girl), this time as mentor to her go-getter younger cousin, Vanessa Tracy Smith, who narrates this glitzy urban story about the payoff of hard work. Tracy Grant rose to fame earlier with her autobiography Flyy Girl, which she parlayed into a booming career as a screenwriter, actress and producer. Now, an adoring and ambitious 16-year-old Vanessa moves from North Philly to L.A., and the novel tracks her three-year meteoric rise as Tracy's personal assistant and protégée to Hollywood powerbroker. Vanessa quickly learns the Hollywood game and takes the initiative to create a Flyy Girl franchise, including a sassy clothing line, while also pushing her older cousin to turn her autobiography into a movie. Tracy, Vanessa and friends hit the road to launch the Flyy Girl brand and conduct nationwide Flyy girl movie casting calls, a coming-of-age trip that teaches Vanessa important lessons in life and business. Snappy dialogue and the inspirational plot make this a readable story, but the plot drifts along without a climax???except for the evening a 20-year-old Vanessa loses her virginity. Devotees of the Flyy Girl trilogy will enjoy this addendum. (July) --Staff (Reviewed June 20, 2005) (Publishers Weekly, vol 252, issue 25, p58)

Library Journal Review: Tracy Ellison, of Flyy Girl and For the Love of Money fame, is back???this time in a book narrated in Flyy Girl???style, but with fewer expletives, by her younger cousin and personal assistant, Vanessa. Rescued from North Philadelphia by now successful filmmaker Tracy, Vanessa, a beautiful and serious-minded college freshman, finds herself immune to Hollywood's elegant parties and smooth-talking players. She concentrates instead on persuading Tracy to return to her roots and film Flyy Girl for all of the young urban women who loved Tracy's autobiographical coming-of-age story, "written with Omar Tyree." While launching a Flyy Girl clothing line and doing preliminary movie auditions back in Philly, Vanessa discovers that, although she may not be as creative as Tracy, she has her own strengths. Frequent, self-congratulatory references to Flyy Girl as a publishing phenomenon may annoy some; however, this book should be a hit with Tyree fans and readers clamoring for more urban fiction. Recommended for popular fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/05.]???Laurie A. Cavanaugh, Brockton P.L., MA --Laurie A. Cavanaugh (Reviewed May 15, 2005) (Library Journal, vol 130, issue 9, p104)

Author Web Sites:
1. Omar Tyree’s Web Site : Tyree provides information about himself and his books.

ISBNs Associated with this Title:
0743228685
0743228723 : Paperback
0786284927 : Hardcover - Large Print
1416547215 : Paperback - Mass Market

Credits:
• Novelist/EBSCO Publishing
• Baker & Taylor
• Booklist, published by the American Library Association
• Publishers Weekly, A Reed Elsevier Business Information Publication
• Library Journal, A Reed Elsevier Business Information Publication
• Added to NoveList: 20050520
• TID: 134153

Capital City

Author: Tyree, Omar

Wilmington, Del.: Mars Productions, c1994, 373 p.
Notes:
Subtitle on cover: The chronicles of a D.C. underworld

Author Web Sites:
1. Omar Tyree’s Web Site : Tyree provides information about himself and his books.

ISBNs Associated with this Title:
1564110753

Credits:
• Novelist/EBSCO Publishing
• Baker & Taylor
• Added to NoveList: 20010101
• TID: 060060

Diary of a groupie: a novel
Omar Tyree

Author: Tyree, Omar

Keeping close tabs on a range of unsuspecting no-strings-attached and ruthlessly private boyfriends, Tabitha Night is offered a large sum of money to reveal her secrets by a banker who believes one of Tabitha's conquests molested his daughter.

New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003, 256 p.

Booklist Review: This suspenseful story is about Tabitha Night, a young woman who has used her youthful appearance to wile older, wealthy men. For the past 13 years, she has kept a diary that details her life in the Seattle foster-care system with her foster sisters and the relationships she has had with her older male acquaintances. Just when she is starting over in a new locale, Las Vegas, she is approached by a private investigator to consider a business opportunity. Tabitha accepts the lucrative assignment to get close to a famous actor and reveal his penchant for underage girls. Her first undertaking is to travel to New York to attend his movie opening and observe his entourage and habits. Over the course of a few days, her assignment goes from being fun to being extremely dangerous. The stakes are high when the reasons for her involvement are revealed and men begin to outbid each other for her diaries. The ending is a great surprise.
(Reviewed May 15, 2003) -- Lillian Lewis

Publishers Weekly Review: Twenty-six-year-old Tabitha Knight, the heroine of this sexy page-turner by Tyree (For the Love of Money), doesn't hold down a steady job—she doesn't need to, because she has a string of superrich celebrity boyfriends to help her out. These are the kinds of relationships that Tabitha likes best—plenty of glamour and wining and dining, with no strings attached. Within three weeks of moving to Las Vegas, she has made two new conquests, a former heavyweight boxer and a basketball star. Each day, and with each new relationship, Tabitha turns to her diary, now 13 volumes long, to record the details of her encounters. Tabitha is approached by private investigator Sylvia Green, who wants Tabitha to "get close" to a famous actor suspected of molesting girls and to record whatever information she gets about his crimes in her diary. The operation is being funded by a rich banker who wants justice for his daughter, one of the actor's victims, and Tabitha stands to make six figures. She initially balks at the idea of making her diary public. But she also wants to be able to help out her three foster sisters, Janet, Patrice and Marisol, who are struggling with marriages, money problems, illnesses and brutish boyfriends. And in any case, perhaps it would be worth it just to see the molester in jail. Tabitha is wonderfully levelheaded and sharp, and is surrounded by equally colorful, if less well-developed, characters. The sloppy plotting leaves loose ends, but the unusual premise will easily capture readers' attention. 13-city author tour. (June 17)
— Staff (Reviewed May 12, 2003) (Publishers Weekly, vol 250, issue 19, p43)

Kirkus Reviews A career groupie is hired to use her tried-and-true wiles for revenge on a suspected child molester.

Tyree has fortunately decided to pare things down after the 400-page bloat of his last effort (Leslie, 2002), though that's about it. One can't expect to be wowed by the prose after an stiff opening line ("Main Street in Las Vegas, Nevada, was the hottest spot for adult fun and games that America had to offer"), but it's still impressive just how uninteresting Tyree is able to make his seemingly juicy plot-points. Tyree's mad, bad, and dangerous It-Girl this time out is Tabitha Knight, the groupie herself, who at the start is escorting an ex-prizefighter to a Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight in Las Vegas. Tabitha is one of several sisters raised in foster homes, most of whom have been having hard times with boyfriends, kids, and jobs—a problem that Tabitha has managed to avoid by sleeping with as many famous/rich/powerful men as possible, getting as much money out of them as possible—and recording all her exploits in her diary. She's got the boxer on a hook and is successfully angling to get a hot, up-and-coming pro basketballer into her bed when she gets an unwelcome visit from a private investigator. Soon Tabitha finds herself hired and on her way to New York to get some dirt on a famous actor who has apparently molested the daughter of the investigator's boss. An interchangeable array of men with secrets enter Tabitha's orbit as the shadowy forces working behind the scenes strive to get their hands on her diaries. Unfortunately, once Tyree moves the action eastward, this already-thin tale becomes even more dangerously stretched, with barely enough steam to limp to its conclusion.

Hard to figure what the point of it all is. Meanwhile, Tyree's hopelessly schlocky style causes at least a couple of serious embarrassments per page.
(Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2003)

Other related features:

1. Annotated Book List - Popular African-American Fiction

Author Web Sites:
1. Omar Tyree’s Web Site : Tyree provides information about himself and his books.

ISBNs Associated with this Title:
0743228677
0743228715 : Paperback

Credits:
• Novelist/EBSCO Publishing
• Baker & Taylor
• Booklist, published by the American Library Association
• Publishers Weekly, A Reed Elsevier Business Information Publication
• Copyright 2005, VNU Business Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved
• Added to NoveList: 20030620
• TID: 119444

Do right man, A

Author: Tyree, Omar

Bobby Dallas, a young, attractive, African-American man, struggles with his feelings about career, family, and relationships, while seeking the love of the soul mate who got away

Booklist Review: "A Do Right Man"is the title of an oldie by Aretha Franklin that aptly describes Bobby Dallas, the main character of Tyree's novel. Tyree presents refreshing insight into the world of an aspiring African American male and his relationships. Bobby Dallas has done all the right things: gone to college and graduated, persistently pursued his career, and, after many years, excelled in his field. Yet, his love life leaves much to be desired. After many professional and romantic ups and downs, Bobby begins to yearn for a soul mate. After running into the loved "one who got away," he is finally ready and willing to make the commitment to one woman. Tyree shares the black male struggle, experience, and feeling with insight and humor. A great coming-of-age story for young African American males. ((Reviewed November 1, 1997)) -- Lillian Lewis

Kirkus Reviews Tyree (Flyy Girl, 1996) returns, this time, fortunately, focusing less on Afrocentric theorizing and more on character--resulting in a good deal more engaging read. The first-person story centers on Bobby Dallas (the "do right man"), who, despite the weight he's obliged to shoulder as a prototypical Good Black Man, manages to come off as likable, complex, and utterly confused. Bobby has always wanted to be "in" radio. And so at Howard University he interns at a couple of stations and makes contacts that ought to be useful in the future. Just before graduation, though, the campus babe and slick New Yorker Pearl Davis takes a shine to Bobby, leading him to throw over best friend Faye Butler, who's been expressing romantic interest in him for years, and follow Pearl to Manhattan, where the talk-radio scene is as cut-throat as the city streets. Sure enough, once Pearl's modeling career takes off, she dumps him fast, and Bobby moves back to Washington to make a real run for his dream job. But while he hooks up there with lots of smart and beautiful women, he finds he can't stop thinking about Faye. After finding professional success, with women of all kinds banging down his door, Bobby is all the more convinced that Faye, his soulmate, was the one he let get away. It will take a coincidence and an act of bravery to gather all the ragged threads of Bobby's life together into a cohesive strand. Tyree in a new, more subtle mode.
(Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 1997)

Other related features:

1. Author Read-Alike - Terry McMillan

Author Web Sites:
1. Omar Tyree’s Web Site : Tyree provides information about himself and his books.

Other titles associated with this book:
Do right man

ISBNs Associated with this Title:
0684829290
0684848031 : Paperback

Credits:
• Hennepin County Public Library
• Novelist/EBSCO Publishing
• Baker & Taylor
• Booklist, published by the American Library Association
• Copyright 2005, VNU Business Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved
• Added to NoveList: 20010101
• TID: 007387

Flyy girl

Author: Tyree, Omar

As a young black woman motivated by material things, Tracey plunges into a world of violence, gratuitous sex, and lies, until heartbreak forces her to take a closer look at her own life, sexuality, and dreams.

Kirkus Reviews Tyree's debut is much longer than a YA novel, and far more vulgar, but the subject is pure teen: The ins and outs of dating matched up with a guide to fashion dos and don'ts. The further twist is that it's set in a largely black neighborhood of Philadelphia, where whites exist only as an excuse for some silly Afrocentric theorizing. At the heart of this morality tale is Tracy Ellison, a young gift whose adolescence and teenage years are depicted largely as a monotonous soap opera. The daughter of hardworking parents, Tracy lives in Germantown, a middle-class neighborhood, and does well in school. Her problems stem mainly from boys, and for most of her young life, she's truly boy-crazy. So much so, that this overlong narrative records in dull detail her years of flirting, courting, kissing, and having sex--"a game of choosing and chasing and dumping." By 13, she's tall, curvaceous, and cunning; she "had to have whomever she wanted right away." That includes a wide range of eager young men, from the awkward and fumbling Bruce to the violent thief Timmy. With time, Tracy learns not to give it out without getting things in return, even though her behavior shocks her lifelong neighbor, Raheema, a studious girl who postpones her deflowering. What finally turns Tracy around, though, is the sad example of Raheema's older sister, who has become a crack whore. In this tightly ordered universe, bad living leads to addiction, unwanted pregnancy, jail, or death. Tracy also comes under the influence of some college girls who introduce her to the world of Kente cloth and the Minister Farrakhan. Tyree's shapeless docudrama seems written for an audience he intends to shock--why else would he pause so often (and so awkwardly) to translate slang terms that any watcher of Moesha would know? But for all its immoral behavior, it's a cautionary of the most heavy-handed sort: virtue rewarded; vice punished.
(Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 1996)

Author Web Sites:
1. Omar Tyree’s Web Site : Tyree provides information about himself and his books.

ISBNs Associated with this Title:
0684835665 : Paperback
0743218574 : Paperback
1564110567 : Paperback
0684829282 : Hardcover
0786284919 : Hardcover - Large Print
0613921879 : Glued Binding
1417647868 : Glued Binding

Credits:
• Hennepin County Public Library
• Novelist/EBSCO Publishing
• Baker & Taylor
• Copyright 2005, VNU Business Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved
• Added to NoveList: 20010101
• TID: 060061

For the love of money: a novel

Author: Tyree, Omar

After making it in Hollywood, twenty-eight-year-old "Flyy Girl" Tracy Ellison returns to her old Philadelphia neighborhood, but her homecoming is bittersweet as she confronts the things and people she left behind.

Booklist Review: This novel picks up where Tyree's novel, Flyy Girl (1996) left off. Tracy is no longer a teenager dealing with the ups and downs of dating and the dos and don'ts of fashion. Since her high-school days, Tracy has matured and begun a career as a Philadelphia schoolteacher. As she quickly discovers, she is not content with her life and moves out to Los Angeles. Tracy's rise to fame and stardom, from Philadelphia schoolteacher to Los Angeles power, is storybook. On her arrival in Los Angeles, she takes some writing classes, immediately finds employment as a scriptwriter for a television show, quickly becomes associated with some power players, and is on her way to fame and fortune. Her story, Led Astray, is turned into a major Hollywood feature film, for which Tracy is screenwriter, associate producer, and star. She accomplishes all of this not because of her love of money but rather from her inner drive to succeed. This novel is sure to be another Omar Tyree best-seller. ((Reviewed June 1 & 15, 2000)) -- Lillian Lewis

Publishers Weekly Review: Rowdy and predictable, this sequel to Flyy Girl, the tale of a streetwise, boy-crazy Philadelphia teen who learns some hard lessons, revisits the life and times of Tracy Ellison Grant, now 28 and a successful author (of a novel called Flyy Girl), TV and screenwriter, and rising movie actress, as she takes a closer look at her fame, fortune and heart. Tracy's old flame, Victor Hinson, has been doing a stretch in jail; once released, he changes his name and marries someone else. Tracy tries not to let his defection stop her from enjoying her notoriety. But she is still vulnerable as she makes a visit to her old stomping grounds, Philadelphia's Germantown: she feels exposed and fake speaking at her old high school, and on a radio chat show she's disturbed to hear rumors that she's a lesbian. She stays in touch with her old crew, but she is disillusioned on that front, too. Her friend, Kiwana, formerly Afrocentric and militant, disappoints Tracy when she marries a white man, and fast-talking Mercedes audaciously tries to scam Tracy for money. Tracy's heart still retains a soft spot for the reformed Victor, now a Muslim businessman, and the embers of their old affair flare up in a situation that resolves itself in several surprises. Tyree may turn off some readers with Tracy's clich d poetry and occasional references to himself and his success throughout the narrative. Although the prose (rife with self-important italicized words to make obvious points) is often clunky and the dialogue flat, Tracy's adventures provide cool commentary on ambition, love, friendship and the price of fame. (Aug.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal Review: In this sequel to Flyy Girl, Tyree brings readers up to date on the fast-lane life of Tracy Ellison. Continuing his skillful use of dialog, the author wanders between present and past to tell the story of Tracy, now a Hollywood celebrity. Chapters end with poetry by Tracy about becoming a star, being dumped by her first love, Victor, and returning to her hometown. She tries to act unaffected by her success, but family, friends, and acquaintances relate to her differently. Tracy "struggles" to get a hot movie part while trying to lure author Omar Tyree to help her write the sequel to Flyy Girl. By book's end, (surprise) he agrees to write it. The book is filled with other annoying self-serving plugs for the author. Maybe Tracy's story is uplifting and intended to give a positive picture of stardom, money, and family. Maybe young adult readers are supposed to learn how wonderful money and fame can be if you keep your head on straight. However, the tale and the telling are just not very interesting. Curious fans of Flyy Girl might pick it up. For libraries with the first novel; others may want to pass.--Shirley Gibson Coleman, Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews A lifeless successor to the ebullient, street-smart Flyy Girl (1996) delivers a preachy take on the price of success and life in Hollywood.
Tracy Ellison Grant, the original flyy girl, is still hung up on sex, clothes, and the good life, but now she's a movie star and successful screenwriter. Tracy describes the changes in her life through a narrative that moves back and forth between 1996, when she gave up teaching and headed for Hollywood, and 2000, when she's back in Philadelphia visiting her family and the old neighborhood. The 1996 portions show Tracy, English M.A. in hand, storming Tinseltown, determined to be a writer. She doesn't want to be restricted to black shows, but within weeks a lucky break (the first of many) sets her rapidly advancing up the writing hierarchy on a science-fiction series. Flash forward to 2000: her new success means she can't go shopping without being recognized; some family members are jealous; her neighbor, former crack addict Mercedes, wants Tracy to buy her a house; and her friends are moving on: Raheema, an academic, is a happy wife and mother; Kiwana, a former militant, has married a white man. Tracy also meets up with Victor, the love of her life, and although still attracted to him, she realizes they're not right together—which means that she's lonely, though rich and famous. Back on the coast she lands a savvy and connected agent, writes and sells a screenplay, and then is asked to play the lead. Other Hollywood blacks are envious, and rumors fly, but Tracy can tough it out, then use it to deliver a sermon on work, money, and race. Even more success looms as Tyree's single-minded heroine takes on new challenges. If only it weren't all as stale and clichÉd as the poetry Tracy relentlessly inserts throughout her prose narrative.
Fine for Flyy fans who want to know what happened next, but for the rest, a tell-all with not much to tell.
(Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2000)

Other related features:

1. Author Read-Alike - Terry McMillan

Author Web Sites:
1. Omar Tyree’s Web Site : Tyree provides information about himself and his books.

ISBNs Associated with this Title:
0684872919
0684872927 : Paperback
0786230770 : Hardcover - Large Print

Credits:
• Hennepin County Public Library
• Novelist/EBSCO Publishing
• Baker & Taylor
• Booklist, published by the American Library Association
• Publishers Weekly, A Reed Elsevier Business Information Publication
• Library Journal, A Reed Elsevier Business Information Publication
• Copyright 2005, VNU Business Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved
• Added to NoveList: 20010101
• TID: 060062

Just say no!: a novel
Omar Tyree

Author: Tyree, Omar

Friends since childhood, Darin Harmon and John Williams have always been extremely talented, but when a homecoming talent show reveals John's extraordinary musical brilliance, John decides to take the world by storm with Darin as his manager.

New York: Simon & Schuster, c2001, 494 p.

Booklist Review: The lifelong friendship of John “Loverboy” Williams and Darin Harmon is complete with honesty, raw emotion, and just plain, good, old-fashioned love between two guys. Both men are talented and use those attributes to secure college scholarships, Darin for football and John for music. When John decides to expand his musical talents into a solo performing career, their friendship changes into a business partnership. Once Darin begins managing John’s career, he not only learns about the business but also discovers John’s emotional mood swings. Together these men learn about the temptations and insanity of fame and popularity. Although Darin begins to pull back and search for his own happiness, he is unable to completely stay away. John lures Darin back with his recklessness and his need for Darin’s sensibility and stability. That the realization of one’s dreams often comes at a price is a message with which women and men will be able to connect.
(Reviewed June 1, 2001) -- Lillian Lewis

Publishers Weekly Review: The pitfalls of success swallow up a young soul singer in Tyree's latest, a buddy story about a pair of African-Americans from North Carolina who rocket to stardom together after leaving college to enter the music business. Darin Harmon is the narrator, a college football prospect who sees his career go up in smoke after an injury and decides to manage his best friend, a talented singer and musician named John Williams. Williams comes from a church music background, but when he starts singing and writing songs, the romantic "Loverboy" persona he invents quickly lands him a record deal, a concert tour and a series of bestselling singles and albums. Williams can't resist temptation, though, and his problems start with pot addiction and slowly progress to include increasingly dangerous sexual adventures, leaving Harmon with the dubious task of trying to keep his best friend's hedonism under the media radar. Eventually Harmon tires of Williams's antics, and when he quits to get married, raise a family and become a producer, the pace of Loverboy's slide accelerates until he finally lands in a Maryland halfway house after a drug arrest. Tyree narrates the somewhat predictable story at a slick, superficial level, relying on at least a dozen rather redundant sex scenes to keep the plot moving, although he does delve briefly into Williams's troubled relationship with his extremely religious but hypocritical mother. The sex, drugs and rock-and-roll angle will seem familiar to white readers, but Tyree's major contribution here is framing Williams' efforts in the context of other soul, rap and R&B artists to produce an informative and entertaining variation on a formulaic music yarn. (Aug.)
— Staff (Reviewed August 6, 2001) (Publishers Weekly, vol 248, issue 32, p62)

Library Journal Review: Recent winner of an NAACP Image Award, Tyree follows up the best-selling For the Love of Money with the story of two friends who have the tough job of learning to cope with stardom. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews Tedious, overwritten account of the rise and inevitable fall of an African-American musician.
Beginning in the mental institution where John "Loverboy" Williams is now being held, the narrative slips back to the beginning, when John and Darin first met. Narrator Darin tells of the pity he felt for mamma's boy John and how he made it his childhood priority to look out for the awkward, studious kid. The two grow up, Darin becomes a popular athlete and John a gifted musician, and both win scholarships to the same college for their respective talents. Here the story veers into the realm of fairy tale. John makes such a hit at the college's talent show that he's invited to play at another college for money. His smooth vocal stylings earn him the moniker "Loverboy," and with his overnight popularity come throngs of women to validate the name. He decides to drop out of college, and Darin, whose dream of playing for the NFL has been ended by an injury, comes along as his manager. They break into the big time presto bismo: John cuts an album, knocks 'em dead on tour, and becomes a national celebrity. By now, of course, he's also a compulsive womanizer and a drug addict. Darin tries to restrain John's masochistic urges, but he too gets hooked on easy money and fame. John's personal life continues to deteriorate—the relationship with his pious mother becomes strained, and he's thrown by the discovery of the father he never knew, a married man his mother had an affair with—but his music is more popular than ever. He's a star! Darin, learning the error of his wicked ways, quits managing, gets married, and goes back to college, but he can't give up trying to save John from himself.Though full of good intentions and some fresh observations about race, Tyree's (For the Love of Money, 2000, etc.) monotonously detailed prose limits the appeal of this cautionary tale.
Clumsy and predictable.
(Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2001)

Other related features:

1. Author Read-Alike - Terry McMillan

Author Web Sites:
1. Omar Tyree’s Web Site : Tyree provides information about himself and his books.

ISBNs Associated with this Title:
0684872935

Credits:
• Hennepin County Public Library
• Baker & Taylor
• Booklist, published by the American Library Association
• Publishers Weekly, A Reed Elsevier Business Information Publication
• Library Journal, A Reed Elsevier Business Information Publication
• Copyright 2005, VNU Business Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved
• Added to NoveList: 20010101
• TID: 065098

Leslie: a novel
Omar Tyree

Author: Tyree, Omar

Idolized by her family and admired by her peers and teachers at Dillard University, New Orleans native Leslie Beaudet becomes the center of a disturbing murder mystery that reveals her misunderstood personal struggles and craving for power.

New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002, 352 p.

Booklist Review: Tyree’s latest novel is filled with references to the religious Vaudou culture of Haiti, which through the slave trade survived as the superstitious New Orleans practice of voodoo. Leslie Beaudet is the middle child of Ann, a Black Indian, and Jean, a Haitian immigrant. She is a college student of unbreakable determination, whose behavior and attitude are as mysterious as her looks are exotic. Leslie is antagonistic toward her older brother, Pierre. His inability to defend himself caused a childhood incident that neither of them has forgotten. She offers comfort to her younger, 18-year-old sister Laetitia. Laetitia is struggling to make a life in the projects for her two daughters and their father. As Leslie falls deeper into acts of violence, each member of her family also begins to behave uncharacteristically: Jean finally comes out of hiding, Pierre finally takes a stand on his sister’s behalf, and Laetitia finally recognizes her own worth. Tyree has woven complex characters that overcome seemingly hopeless circumstances.
(Reviewed July 1, 2002) -- Lillian Lewis

Publishers Weekly Review: Tyree (For the Love of Money) takes the easy way out in his latest effort, subjugating the more promising elements of his story line about an intelligent, exotic Haitian co-ed to a series of lurid subplots involving voodoo, drugs and murder. Leslie Beaudet is a New Orleans college student whose beauty and depth separate her from her three girlfriends; the distance widens when she begins caring for her nieces, after her erratic sister, Laetitia, runs into boyfriend trouble. The romantic focus eventually shifts to Leslie's attempts to seduce one of her roommates' boyfriends in a bald-faced power play. The plot flirts with self-parody when the boyfriend spurns Leslie and she takes up voodoo to deal with her various enemies. Later, Tyree goes completely over the top by introducing murder and mayhem, as Leslie gets involved with a drug lord who employs her weak brother, Pierre. The violent subplots range from ineffective to downright silly, but what keeps the novel partially afloat is the entertaining cast, members of which represent diverse facets of African-American life. They can't completely offset the effect of the mysterious, ruthless Leslie, however, who remains a barely likable cipher. This could have been a fascinating novel if there were more meaningful interactions between Leslie and those around her, but the decision to turn her into a tabloid heroine makes this a forgettable book once the shock value of the plotting wears off. (Aug. 6)
— Staff (Reviewed July 29, 2002) (Publishers Weekly, vol 249, issue 30, p53)

Library Journal Review: Tyree, a New York Times best-selling author, has also won the NAACP Image Award for literary fiction, and his new work should have both commercial and literary appeal. A "perfect" young woman seems to be cracking under the strain; suddenly, she is a likely murder suspect. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews Tyree (Just Say No!, 2001, etc.), whose grim tales of life in the 'hood usually offer moments of grace or wisdom, tells a horrifying and essentially nasty story of a woman who murders those who get in her way.

The New Orleans–set story reflects a depressing racism: all whites, however well intentioned or innocent, are responsible for the plights of blacks, while the ills of victimhood excuse the vilest behavior. The violence begins shortly after aspiring filmmaker Kaiyah videotapes an interview with four Dillard University students who share a house. Ayana, a wannabe rap star, Bridget, daughter of wealthy parents, and goodhearted Yula all cooperate, but the fourth, Leslie Beaudet, refuses to speak. A good and ambitious student, Leslie is tormented by her family problems, her past, and her responsibilities. Her Haitian father, who wanted to be a great chef, is living in a shelter; her sister Laetitia is a teenaged unmarried mother in the projects; and elder brother Pierre, who once stood by while she was sexually abused by a gang of boys, rides round with gangster leader and drug-dealer Beaucoup. When her mother dies of AIDS and Laetitia is upset because her man is seeing waitress Phyllis, something snaps in Leslie. Her father had talked to her about Haitian Vaudou (the true version of voodoo), and Leslie, believing she's a Vaudoo priestess, uses her powers to eliminate all who thwart her. First is the waitress Phyllis. Then, annoyed by her prying, Leslie arranges for Kaiyah to be killed. Next comes Eugene, Bridget's Creole boyfriend. Leslie herself knocks off gangster Beaucoup after luring him to a hotel room. The violence is intensified when brother Pierre, fearful of the consequences of Beaucoup's death, kills his guards. And Leslie, still angry, apparently can be understood only by "facing the lies of America, those painful lies of color."

Implausibly melodramatic portrait of a killer whose actions evoke horror rather than sympathy.
(Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2002)

Author Web Sites:
1. Omar Tyree’s Web Site : Tyree provides information about himself and his books.

ISBNs Associated with this Title:
0743228669
0743228707 : Paperback
0743524861 : Cassette - Audio
074352487X : CD - Audio

Credits:
• Novelist/EBSCO Publishing
• Baker & Taylor
• Booklist, published by the American Library Association
• Publishers Weekly, A Reed Elsevier Business Information Publication
• Library Journal, A Reed Elsevier Business Information Publication
• Copyright 2005, VNU Business Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved
• Added to NoveList: 20020520
• TID: 069041

Single mom: a novel

Author: Tyree, Omar

After ten years spent raising her own two sons alone, single mother Denise Stewart finds herself facing a new set of life challenges as she becomes involved with truck driver Dennis and faces custody battles with both her sons' fathers

Booklist Review: Tyree's stories have become increasingly complex and thought-provoking. This one centers on Denise Stewart, an African American thirtysomething, successful businesswoman and single mother of two teenage boys by two different men. Her sons, Jimmy and Walter, have knowledge of their fathers; yet, each father has chosen to remain distant. The action begins when the fathers, Jimmy and Walter, try to reestablish meaningful relationships with the sons. In addition to all of her family responsibilities and volunteer involvement, Denise is dating a truck driver--Dennis Brockenborough, affectionately called Brock. Because of Denise, or in spite of her, the three men recognize their own shortcomings and value their strengths as they interact with the teenagers. The men finally accept that the greatest legacy they can leave is a self-sufficient and well-adjusted child. This novel's warm and fuzzy ending will make you feel hopeful that the struggles people encounter as parents, partners, and friends can be less burdensome when people face issues rather than run from them. ((Reviewed October 1, 1998)) -- Lillian Lewis

Kirkus Reviews Tyree (Flyy Girl, 1996; A Do Right Man, 1997) returns with a well-intentioned if schematic tale of black men finding love and redemption as they begin to share the parenting burdens borne for too long by single moms. The tale is told by four alternating narrators over a period that begins in July 1997 and ends about a year later. There's single mom Denise; then Jimmie, father of her eldest son, teenager little Jay; Walter Perry, father of her other son, Walter; and, finally, Brock, the man who loves her. After introducing themselves, the narrators chronicle their reactions to the events that have linked them. Denise recalls her teenage romance with Jimmie, her affair with Walter, and her successful struggle to go to college and own a business. Jimmie recalls his failed basketball career and his association with a gang that landed him in jail. Walter Perry, the only son of rich but unloving parents, remembers how he avoided Denise and his son after the affair, concentrating instead on his career. And Brock, a divorced truck driver with style and a loving heart, wants a "good woman" in his life. As the story begins, all four are ready for a change: Jimmie wants to get to know his son; Denise is tired of trying to manage alone; Walter wants to be a better father than his own has been; and Brock, soon after meeting Denise, feels smitten. As the months pass, the fathers learn some of the rewards of fatherhood; Denise, still suspicious of their intentions, begins to appreciate the positive way in which her sons are responding to their presence; and Brock, liked by all, finally persuades Denise to marry him. There are no major events, just an accretion of hours spent in the company of family and friends. An earnest plea for commitment, with all the subtlety of a sermon from the bully pulpit.
(Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 1998)

Author Web Sites:
1. Omar Tyree’s Web Site : Tyree provides information about himself and his books.

ISBNs Associated with this Title:
0684855925
0684855933 : Paperback
1417647787 : Glued Binding

Credits:
• Hennepin County Public Library
• Baker & Taylor
• Booklist, published by the American Library Association
• Copyright 2005, VNU Business Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved
• Added to NoveList: 20010101
• TID: 060063

Sweet St. Louis: a novel

Author: Tyree, Omar

A pickup line uttered by a handsome mechanic confounds Sharon, forcing her to confront the nature of love and romance, and ask the age-old question: how serious is he?

New York: Simon & Schuster, c1999, 368 p.

Booklist Review: Masterful African American storyteller Tyree sets his latest novel in St. Louis, Missouri. Anthony "Ant" Poole tries out his latest pickup line, "a piece of me for a piece of you," on Sharron Francis, and she is intrigued by his come-on and finds him attractive. So when they encounter each other again, she is eager to learn more about him. On the other hand, Ant is only interested in a frivolous encounter. Still, Sharron's honest approach is enough to keep him interested. Meanwhile, Ant's best friend, Tone, continually promotes situations that are dangerous for a man considering a monogamous relationship; and Sharron's roommate, Celena, has a cynical view of relationships and is a bit jealous of Sharron's newfound happiness. Over several months, Ant and Sharron's relationship develops from dating to meeting one another's parents to discussions of marriage and children. The four characters deal with the realities of love and the consequences of romantic choices. This is sure to be another hot seller on the long list of Tyree publications. ((Reviewed September 15, 1999)) -- Lillian Lewis

Author Web Sites:
1. Omar Tyree’s Web Site : Tyree provides information about himself and his books.

ISBNs Associated with this Title:
0684856107
0684856115 : Paperback

Credits:
• Novelist/EBSCO Publishing
• Baker & Taylor
• Booklist, published by the American Library Association
• Added to NoveList: 20010101
• TID: 060064

What they want: a novel
Omar Tyree

Author: Tyree, Omar

Loving his life of carefree travel and insecure women, male model Terrance Mitchell experiences profound guilt when his insensitivity induces a young woman's instability, causing him to rethink his priorities.

New York: Simon & Schuster, c2006, 432 p.

Booklist Review: Terrance Mitchell is a highly successful heterosexual male model from Gary, Indiana, who lives in a world of beautiful women, fashionable clothes, and exotic places. Although he knows what women want, he maintains his selfish and self-indulgent lifestyle. He casually ends a relationship with fellow-model Andrea and spirals out of control, with increasingly more frequent and kinky sexual escapades. When Terrance and Andrea catch up with each other several years later, he learns that she is no longer modeling but living a very different life. While working with Marcus Vissel, the man who gave him his break in the fashion industry, he discovers tantalizing details about Andreas life and Marcus new business venture. Terrance declines to profit from Marcus business invitation but pursues Andrea. Andreas lifestyle destroys his peace of mind and forces him to reassess his choices. It isnt until he finds out that he is the father of a three-year-old daughter that he finally puts an end to his scandalous lifestyle and gives a woman what she truly wants and deserves. -- Lillian Lewis (Reviewed 07-01-2006) (Booklist, vol 102, number 21, p34)

Publishers Weekly Review: Successful 33-year-old black model Terrance Mitchell humps his way around the world, staying in exotic locales only long enough to attend a photo shoot and nail a few attractive locals in NAACP Image Award???winner Tyree's latest (after Boss Lady). Lately, though, Terrance has been thinking it might be time to give up his "bad-ass" life of banging strangers and ex-girlfriends, and having threesomes with, say, a teenager and her 22-year-old pal, or with an ex and her lesbian lover. There is some background noise behind all the diddling and pleasured moaning: Terrance's unwed sister gets pregnant and must decide whether to have the baby; a model Terrance used to work with has adopted a celibate lifestyle; one of the modeling agency execs who works with him is contemplating having a baby on her own and asks Terrance if he wants to be the sperm donor. Terrance, though, only begins to genuinely consider a change in lifestyle when a woman from his past calls with the news that he has???wait for it???unknowingly fathered her child. This book is all about the sex, and Tyree's attempts to hang a plot on the carnal gymnastics only muck up the works. 11-city author tour. (July) --Staff (Reviewed May 15, 2006) (Publishers Weekly, vol 253, issue 20, p49)

Library Journal Review: Tyree's (Boss Lady) latest novel features male model Terrance Mitchell, who is past 30 but still in peak condition. Gorgeous women throw themselves at Terrance and call him day and night. Irritatingly, most of them seem to want him to commit, but Terrance, who thinks about commitment between bouts of increasingly ???freaky??? sex with various women, doesn't see how he'd benefit. Eventually, though, the combinations and positions get too kinky for him and Terrance realizes that settling down with one woman might not be so bad after all, as long as she's as attractive as he is, and keeps herself toned. This book has enough sex scenes to keep fans happy but consists mainly of Terrance's rambling conversations with the women in his life, tediously reported verbatim. Terrance is too shallow to give any real weight to the issues he is meant to deal with, but his story will be in demand. A required purchase for any collection that includes books by popular African American authors like Zane. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/06.]???Laurie A. Cavanaugh, Brockton P.L., MA --Laurie A. Cavanaugh (Reviewed June 15, 2006) (Library Journal, vol 131, issue 11, p61)

Author Web Sites:
1. Omar Tyree’s Web Site : Tyree provides information about himself and his books.

ISBNs Associated with this Title:
0743228693
0743228731 : Paperback

Credits:
• Novelist/EBSCO Publishing
• Baker & Taylor
• Booklist, published by the American Library Association
• Publishers Weekly, A Reed Elsevier Business Information Publication
• Library Journal, A Reed Elsevier Business Information Publication
• Added to NoveList: 20060820
• TID: 146714