When a Black Man Loves," is a statment regarding basic human dilemmas:
ectasy and pain, risk and rewards, richness and barrenness, love and lust, and desire and need.
You might put When a Black Man Loves on your coffee table, but it probably won't stay there long. You'll
put it on the nightstand and read it while your lover prepares to join you in bed. It will be your
friend (or foe!) when your life is breaking apart or when it is just starting to come back together
again. You may put it down for several days, or weeks, but you will eventually pick it up again.
Don't read this book unless you are ready for it to read you.
- Michael Blanco
When a Black Man Loves is a collection of poetry and prose that spans about
twelve years. This book is not merely a look inside how I, a Black man, felt during different phases of my relationships, or more aptly stages of my life, but also
into those realities of love, lust, desire and need as well. These are aspect that form all relationships, no matter what ratio is used.
While this book may have been written by a Black man, the dynamics covered in it are applicable to anyone who has ever been
in love, or in any type of intimate relationship with a member of the opposite sex. It gives men some comraderie and espirit de corps
in exorcising, and excising, some of the feelings that they have had while going through similar things. It gives women more insight into
the emotional side of men when they are going through different events in relationships, shedding more light into an area where there is not
a lot of opening up.
Some men have said that it puts into words what they were thinking and feeling, while going through these things. Women have been
amazed at it's openness and honesty. No matter what, I think that you will enjoy the book.
