Close to the Bone (1999)

Here's the question that forms the essence (as well as the first line) of Close to the Bone: ''What is a black man?'' Here's the answer: a complicated assemblage of impulses, dreams, and desires. In other words, someone a lot like all of us. Embodying this truism over a few hundred pages are Hal, an up-and-coming young executive; Walker, his ex-college roommate; and Dr. Emmett Mercy, author of a black self-help tome. As the men talk, act, and argue against the background of the O.J. trial, the narrative moves back and forth in time to reveal the forces that shaped their different identities. Think Waiting to Exhale with a sex change and less humor and you'll get the idea. B