I must say that I have to agree with many like myself who feel that this plot/characters have been beaten to death. I have often thought about some of Harris' depictions of blacks, which only seem to have honey or brown sugar coated complexions, butI guess if you wanted to refute that one could throw in Nicole. I have not finished reading this book. I'm 3/4 through it, but I just don't have the same zeal as before when reading previous material. I think it's true--there is way too much name dropping, etc. I have no emotional ties to any of the characters other than Raymond. Basil is an old has-been who in my eyes has not evolved one bit. Don't get me wrong, the portions of the book that I read, I completed in hours, but it's the substance. Invisible Life and Just As I Am are the benchmarks in my view, and this one doesn't even hit the markor come anywhere close. If you got some time to kill it's an ok book.D+