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Paperback
Publisher: Harlem Moon
Following in the footsteps of such bestselling, taboo-breaking books as Randall Kennedy’s Nigger and J. L. King’s On the Down Low, Hung brings a topic previously discussed only in intimate settings out into the open. In a brilliant, multilayered look at the pervasive belief that African American men are prodigiously endowed, Scott Poulson-Bryant interweaves his own experiences as a black man in America with witty analyses of how black male sexuality is expressed in books, film, television, sports, and pornography. “Hung” is a double entendre, referring not only to penis size but to the fact that black men were once literally hung from trees, often for their perceived sexual prowess and the supposed risk it posed to white women. As a poignant reminder, he begins his book with a letter to Emmett Till, the teenager who was lynched in Mississippi in the mid-1950s for whistling at a white woman.
For Poulson-Bryant and other men of his generation, society’s deep-seated obsession with the sexual powers of black men has had an enormous, if often deceptive, influence on how they perceive themselves and on the assumptions made by others. His tales of his sexual encounters with both sexes, along with anecdotes about the lives of various friends and colleagues, are wryly and at times shockingly revealing. Enduring racial perceptions have shaped popular culture as well, and Poulson-Bryant offers a thorough, thought-provoking look at media-created images of the “Well-Hung Black Male.” He deftly deconstructs movies like Mandingo and Shaft, articles in the popular press, and edgy works like Robert Mapplethorpe’s Black Book, while also providing distinctive profiles of icons like porn star Lexington Steele and rapper L.L. Cool J.
A mixture of memoir and cultural commentary, Hung is the first and only book to take on phallic fixation and uncover what lies below.
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| "Hung" -- From the Tree, the Pelvis or the Pockets? |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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"Hung" was released sometime in 2005 and written by Scott-Poluson Bryant, a founding editor of Vibe magazine. This book is one of the very few books about black male sexuality in the African-American book market. "Hung" discusses the basics of black male sexuality and America's love/hate relationship with the black penis (even though he doesn't expose all aspects of this relationship).
The author opens this book with a letter to Emmett Till (a 14-year-old black boy who was brutally murdered in 1955 for making a "sexual pass" at a white woman) and a formal introduction about the author, from the author. In this book, the author discusses a sexual experience he's had back in college, how some men "hang" differently from others, the old "locker room" tales and rap songs that make references to big (black) penises. He goes on to discuss America's outrage amid "The Trial of the Century" (which is The O.J. Simpson trial), as well as how America views the black male athlete (such as Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson). He deconstructs movies such as "Shaft", "The Godfather", "Boogie Nights", "Good Fences", "The Full Monty", "Mandingo", "He Got Game", which either closets or exposes the black man's sexuality. He discusses how Hollywood perceives black male sexuality, discussing how white America feels about Will Smith, Denzel Washington, etc... My favorite chapter in this book is "Pass The Remote", which is the chapter about black male sexuality in the porn industry, where he interviews interracial porn-king Lexington Steele. Towards the end, he discusses how rap music perpetuates black male sexuality and how some rap artists ooze with sex appeal, from L.L. Cool J. to Big Daddy Kane. Finally, he exposes brothers on the DL on a whole new level.
Overall, Scott cracks down on the stereotype about black men with big penises and that some black men buy into the stereotype for power issues and whatever else. Although he points out that penis size isn't everything and that even though not all black men are "well-endowed", some people still desire the phallacy of the black man. Because of this, he consistently asks "Is it the size, or the color?" He ends this book simply by saying (in other words) that black men need to start thinking about packing heat on Wall Street instead of packing heat for the public's fascination.
Although the book is very enlightening, nothing new is really discussed here. A year after this book was published, Todd Wooten's "White Men Can't Hump (As Good As Black Men)" was published, which is a much better read! However, I must say that "Hung" is recommended (just not highly)!
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| Within 2 pages you know why this book was written |
| Customer Rating: 1 out of 5 |
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There isn't anything to say really about this book. I knew after reading a couple of pages what this book was about. It was an interesting topic but not a lot of anything in it. Just to let folk know something.... every black man is not packing and the saying size doesn't matter is a big fat lie to protect the smaller sized men that need their ego's babied a little bit. However sex isn't everything. It won't get you what really matters in life anyway. I wouldn't rush to get this book though.
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| Apologies Aside, Everyone Should Read This Book |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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I'm Cacausian, so let's get the race addressed first,because it might be a race issue: Cacausian men believing that African-American men, are all hung,and maybe, some believing that they should be. That is how I read into it, whether that is the author's viewpoint or not. The book, actually, is for all men, straight or [...], who are worried that they may not measure up per other men. It is an insightful book, meant to be read carefully.
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| Sell the Sizzle, Not the Steak! |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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In the 1960s, before the boom of hard-core pornography, there was a big market for soft-core. Sell The Sizzle, Not The Steak! was the mantra of soft-core. HUNG is all sizzle and no steak. The author is a very talented writer, but he seems to be gagging on his own politics. In the world of Scott Poulson-Bryant, if you don't like black men you are a racist. If you do like black men you are a racist (or at best an eracist) since you only like them because they are black. And that damned if you do, damned if you don't way of thinking seems to permeate much of his writing. He even delves into what I call the Politics of Perception: if a black man takes photographs of black men, it's art. If a white man takes photographs of black men, it's exploitation (or as the author puts it, a cultural violation). It's all about the black and the white. Grey does not exist in the world of Scott Poulson-Bryant, but I guess that is life on the Color Line.
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| An Intellectually Stimulating Treatise on African American Men and Their Auras |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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Scott Poulson-Bryant is a bright young artist with heady credentials and a true gift for creative thinking and well-crafted writing skills. He joins the growing ranks of young African American strong writers such as E.L. Ayala, E. Lynn Harris, Keith Boykin, J.L. King, Caesar Brunswick, Christopher David, and Stanley Bennett Clay who not only address issues heretofore considered taboo in the Black community, but succeed not only as brave new voices but also as gifted, important writers.
HUNG: A MEDITATION ON THE MEASURE OF BLACK MEN IN AMERICA starts out with a terrific cover, promises revelation of secrets everyone wants to know, addresses his reader with pertinent facts, and then progresses to relax and offer a rather personalized memoir of his experiences as a black man in America, a man who knows the myths and the realities about phallic secrets, and shares his own insights as well as those of gentlemanly unnamed confidents from whom he gathers his facts.
Along the way Poulson-Bryant not only discusses phallus size, but he also explores the mystique of black men who model for books (Mapplethorpe is a frequent reference point), the porn industry, the world of athletes (yes, naming names), the rap world, and the executive world. But he doesn't limit his meditation to experiences interviewing men: Poulson-Bryant wisely includes women in his foray of questioning the importance of size as a feature of desirability vs. myth vs. disadvantage. It is a well-rounded book and one that never lets the interest lag.
But what one comes away with from this book is an appreciation of the exceptional style of writing of Scott Poulson-Bryant. He is a writer of charm, of humor, of wit, and of intelligence. This reader would like to see how he performs in the field of fiction: in reportage he is up there with the best! Grady Harp, October 06
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