Sweet St. Louis : AN Urban Love Story - Softcover

Tyree, Omar

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0684856115 ISBN 13: 9780684856117

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2000

Synopsis

New York Times bestselling author Omar Tyree's seductive, insightful novel exploring the age-old question: how do people fall in love—and stay in love?

When Anthony "Ant" Poole, a young auto mechanic with a creative approach to the mating game, tries out his latest line on Sharron Francis, he has no idea of the impact it will have. For Sharron, an ordinary girl in search of companionship and happiness, Ant's words are filled with mystery and allure. Would she really be getting an actual piece of him, or just a piece period? The more Sharron contemplates Ant's line, the more it confounds her. When she decides the only way for her to discover its meaning is to discover Ant for herself, both her life and his are turned upside down.

About this title

Review:

What happens when Anthony "Ant" Poole, a consummate player, meets the woman who makes fast, easy sex seem like a waste of time? In Sweet St. Louis, Omar Tyree explores the emotional differences between black men and women, and traces the rocky path to true love. 24-year-old Sharron Francis is looking for a man who'll talk with her, answer the hard questions, and stick around. She's on a mission, "not to play hard to get, but hard to forget," and she'll give that heartbreaker Ant just a few chances before she moves on. But Ant has so much to learn. At least he has a solid job as a mechanic, buoyant self-esteem, and enough experience with women to recognize that Sharron--good-looking, thoughtful, and down-to-earth--might be "the one." Ant's best friend, Tone, teases him into confessing how deep his feelings for Sharron run, while her roommate, Celena, a player in her own right, keeps warning her away from him, arguing that Ant can never change his ways. Through long conversations, the lovers challenge and provoke each other. Yet just as they feel ready to move in together, Ant calls her from jail, swearing he's innocent. Will Sharron abandon him? Can he blame her if she does? He knows she "had the heart of the old school, to love a man to her death. And the steel of the new school to ask him everything about their future together without flinching, to do away with the destructiveness of assumptions."

A journalist and lecturer, Tyree sometimes generalizes too much about the sexes. He also relies on overly long, relaxed dialogue that can sometimes read like the transcript of an excruciating blind date. But Ant and Sharron are depicted as ordinary, multi-dimensional people who are full of contradictions. They try to balance hope with experience, and eventually they find the courage to grow together. --Regina Marler

About the Author:

New York Times bestselling author Omar Tyree is the winner of the 2001 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work—Fiction, and the 2006 Phillis Wheatley Literary Award for Body of Work in Urban Fiction. He has published more than twenty books on African-American people and culture, including five New York Times bestselling novels. He is a popular national speaker, and a strong advocate of urban literacy. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. Learn more at OmarTyree.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0684856115
• ISBN 13: 9780684856117
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368