Fed Up with the Fanny

Black Detroit ad exec Kahlil Richardson, hero (and one of several narrators) of this shallow, preachy debut from Atlanta writer White, has a lot on his plate: he's trying to woo his fiancee away from her bad-news best friend, straighten out his wayward nephew and get his predatory ex, a successful talk-show host, to support the Detroit community organization that he helps to run. As Kahlil explains, ""I thrive on making a difference."" But all the melodrama in Kahlil's family circle (bisexual bed-hopping, murder, child abuse, paternity mysteries) fails to save the book from its half-baked political monologues. Whether the subject is homosexuality (""If it's not unnatural, why do people stay in the closet all their lives?""), current events (""You want to know why they put [Tupac Shakur] in jail and, more importantly, why he was murdered? ...Because he spoke the truth, something a lot of people don't like to hear over the airwaves"") or marriage (""sisters have to... let the brothers know they are supposed to take charge, by God's law""), Kahlil's barbershop paranoias and prejudices may alienate readers. Only the antics surrounding the dating game, and White's sympathy for its victims--fatherless sons, single parents and burned lovers--redeem this self-righteous showboat of a novel. (Feb.) FYI: Fed Up with the Fanny was originally self-published.