Omar Tyree Should Do Us All A Favor And Retire From Writing Completely!
A few weeks ago, my blogging sista Wisdom Teaches Me dropped me an e-mail about urban street literature writer Omar Tyree's retirement rant. One of the reasons why I didn't write about it at the time is because I think Omar Tyree's books are pure trash. Unimaginative, poorly written, repetitive garbage. I tried twice to read his most celebrated book, Flyy Girl and I just couldn't finish it. I was completely bored.
I have always viewed Tyree as a master of book marketing, not a master of the written word. To his credit, Tyree has a great ear for street language and rhythm, but no skills at creating or sustaining an original story from beginning to end. I am always suspect of any author that is churning out books as fast as someone like Tyree. Same ideas, different book cover.
After reading Tyree's "retirement" announcement, my first thought was don't believe the hype. Reading between the lines, it sounded like Tyree's latest book was rejected by his regular publisher. That's the breaks and the business. Two, his announcement was nothing but a marketing ploy because Tyree is not claiming to retire from writing, but from writing "urban street literature." He was promoting his latest book by "shocking" everyone with a fake retirement announcement.
I also can't stand writers who like to tell folks that their books are "classics." The reading public and literary history decides that. And just because a writer sells a lot of books and has a loyal following does not mean what they write is classic, it just means one thing, their books are popular. Tyree celebrates himself too much and makes his role in the creation of modern street literature way too significant.
If you have too heavily and negatively downplay the success of other black urban writers to make your work seem more than it is, you are a legend in your own mind. Tyree bashes everyone in urban literature while failing to mention that the works of Terri McMillan, E. Lynn Harris, and Eric Jerome Dickey were all being published at the same time he came on the scene and helped with his success. Teri Woods made her own name without any help from Tyree, so he should kill that noise about opening doors for others.
Tyree singles out Sister Souljah's The Coldest Winter Ever for turning the heads of his core readership and that's just a damn lie. Souljah's one and only fiction novel, which was published in 1999, has probably sold nearly as many books as Tyree has sold in his entire writing career. Her book has become beloved by African American women of all ages and is one of the most anticipated books to be turned into a feature film. Her book was a urban literature publishing phenomenon and Tyree is completely disingenuous in suggesting her book was anything less than a major smash hit.
What disturbed me the most about Tyree's statement was his completely dishonest and sexist bashing of his core reading audience, black women. Tyree is mad at the sistas for moving on from his tired "been there, done that" ramblings and for reading other black urban authors. Instead of considering the fact that he has churned out too many books in such a short period or that his books are just no longer interesting to his reading audience, he takes them to task like he's somebody's daddy.
The hardcore truth is black women have made Omar Tyree rich and famous. He should have thanked black women for their nearly 15 years of support of his work instead of whining like a bitch because they are not buying his books now. Black women should help Omar Tyree into full retirement by never buying any more of his books in the future, period.
