Is It True What They Say About Black Men? ― Tales of Love, Lust and Language Barriers on the Other Side of the World

"Is It True What They Say About Black Men?" is a travelogue and memoir told from the point of view of a gay, black and well-traveled American, in self-imposed exile from New York City. His physical and emotional journey takes him from one continent to four (South America, Australia, Asia and Africa), all of which he calls home over the course of eight years. Despite his demographic status as a gay black man (and the book’s title, inspired by the one question he hears in every country and every language), Jeremy Helligar’s life abroad and his search for adventure, love and a place to belong are defined by so much more than skin color, sexuality, or even gender. Most of all, his experiences – what happens to him and how he reacts to it – are shaped by a more universal trait: being human. In turn, his book is a universal documentation of love, lust and heartbreak, self-discovery and discovery of the world in which we live, adventure and awkward encounters as a stranger in strange lands. Think James Baldwin (whose "Notes of a Native Son" inspired Jeremy as much as music and "The Golden Girls") and David Sedaris mixed with "Eat Gay Love."