Four Guys and Trouble

If you guessed Major's (Good Peoples) second novel would be just another ""brotha-friend"" saga, you guessed right but it's one of the better entries in the genre, crafted with a sense of style, insight, fun and a twist. A typical cast of four African-American male buddies live in a hothouse of sex, temptation, betrayal and false machismo. The friends Colin, Mike, Dexter and Ibn are a cross-section of black manhood, each with his own strengths and weaknesses, most of the latter manifested in their relationships with women. The young men have sworn to look after Erika, sister of a recently deceased friend, but lust lurks just below the surface as the 24-year-old medical student comes into her own as a woman. Ibn, the womanizer of the group, is comfortably established with his lover, Tiffany, in an exclusive neighborhood yet his roving eye keeps getting him into trouble. Health-conscious Dexter has found God after getting his steady, Denise, pregnant, and prays steadfastly for a miscarriage. The other two guys, Colin and Mike, are seeking to solve problems with their relationships as well, wondering if their pals are right to tease them about their timid ways with women. Major, unlike many of his fellow writers, is careful to pepper his melodrama with thoughtful discussions of serious contemporary social issues such as unwanted pregnancies and parental responsibility, making his points without excessive preaching. Entertaining, hip and charming but often as sexist as its title and slight where it shouldn't be Major's sophomore effort works best when he takes the reader into his characters' inner worlds and relies less on extended dialogue. (Apr.)