Karen Hunter is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, a celebrated radio talk-show host, and co-author of numerous New York Times bestsellers, including Confessions of a Video Vixen, On the Down Low, and Wendy's Got the Heat. She is also an assistant professor in the Film & Media Department at Hunter College.

A former sports and news reporter, Karen Hunter served on the editorial board of the Daily News for four years, where she was a member of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize- and Polk-winning teams. She has also co-authored the bestselling I Make My Own Rules, the autobiography of L.L. Cool J. With Queen Latifah, she co-wrote Ladies First, a memoir/self-empowerment book for women that made the New York Times extended bestsellers list. She has collaborated with Mason Betha, formerly the rapper Mase, and is the co-author of Al on America with Rev. Al Sharpton. A Drew University graduate, she lives in Orange, New Jersey.

Ms. Hunter Is the Publisher of Karen Hunter Publishing
 

Don't Blame It on Rio: The Real Deal Behind Why Men Go to Brazil for Sex
Click to order via Amazon

by Jewel Woods and Karen Hunter

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (April 24, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446178063

Read an AALBC.com Book Review

There is a not-so-new, not-so-secret destination where a growing number of American black men are traveling for the kind of sex and freedom they say they can't find with black women. Thousands of unsuspecting women are kissing their men good-bye while they go on "business" trips to Rio where they meet up with some of their friends and have sex every way they can imagine-no strings, no hassles, and no conscience. For fifteen years, Jewel Woods, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, has been studying the behaviors of black men. In this book, Jewel will explain why black men travel elsewhere for sexual pleasures.  Don't Blame It On Rio does more than uncover this behavior; it offers tips for discovering the behavior and solutions for stopping it before it happens.

Pimpology: The 48 Laws of the Game
Click to order via Amazon

by Pimpin' Ken and Karen Hunter

Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment (July 24, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416938443

The names change, but the game remains the same.

The pimp has reached nearly mythical status. We are fascinated by the question of how a guy from the ghetto with no startup capital and no credit -- nothing but the words out of his mouth -- comes not only to have a stable of sexy women who consider him "their man," but to drive a Rolls, sport diamonds, and wear custom suits and alligator shoes from Italy.

His secret is to follow the "unwritten rules of the game" -- a set of regulations handed down orally from older, wiser macks -- which give him superhuman powers of charm, psychological manipulation, and persuasion.

In Pimpology, star of the documentaries Pimps Up, Ho's Down and American Pimp and Annual Players Ball Mack of the Year winner Ken Ivy pulls a square's coat on the unwritten rules that took him from the ghetto streets to the executive suites. Ken's lessons will serve any person in any interaction: Whether at work, in relationships, or among friends, somebody's got to be on top. To be the one with the upper hand, you've got to have good game, and good game starts with knowing the rules.

If you want the money, power, and respect you dream of, you can't just "pimp your ride," you need to pimp your whole life. And unless you've seen Ray Charles leading Stevie Wonder somewhere, you need Ken's guidelines to do it. They'll reach out and touch you like AT&T and bring good things to life like GE. Then you can be the boss with the hot sauce who gets it all like Monty Hall.

Law 1: Purse First, Ass Last

If a pimp is going to take a chance, a bitch must give him money in advance.
—Father Divine

The Ism
"Purse first, ass last" is the motto of pimpin', the very foundation on which pimpin' is built. What separates a pimp from a trick is that a pimp completely flips the game. A trick pays a ho for the pussy, but a ho doesn't get to fuck a pimp until she pays him. A ho has got to put it in a pimp's pocket like a rocket before pimpin' can begin. It's not about a pimp breaking a ho, it's about a ho breaking herself. Violating this first law will guarantee a pimp a career of troubles and stress. If a woman can try you before she buy you, then, as B.B. King says, "The thrill is gone."

In life what is expensive seems valuable, and what's available for free seems worthless. You've heard that no one buys the cow when the milk is free, but what they didn't tell you is that after a while, no one even wants that free milk. To be valued, the key is not to give, but to receive -- the more, the better. You don't want to "earn" your price, you want to "cost" it. This is the psychology behind the whole game: anything worth having, you must pay for up front.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

 

Raising Kanye: Life Lessons from the Mother of a Hip-Hop Superstar
Click to order via Amazon

by Donda West, Karen Hunter, and Kanye West

Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Pocket (May 8, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416544704

As the mother of hip-hop superstar Kanye West, Donda West has watched her son grow from a brilliant baby boy with all the intimations of fame and fortune to one of the hottest rappers on the music scene. And she has every right to be proud: she raised her son with strong moral values, teaching him right from wrong and helping him become the man he is today. In Raising Kanye, Donda not only pays homage to her famous son but reflects on all the things she learned about being his mother along the way.

Featuring never-before-seen photos and compelling personal anecdotes, Donda's powerful and inspiring memoir reveals everything from the difficulties she faced as a single mother in the African-American community to her later experiences as Kanye's manager as he rose to superstardom. Speaking frankly about her son's reputation as a "Mama's Boy," and his memorable public outbursts about gay rights and President George W. Bush, Donda supports her son without exception, and here she shares the invaluable wisdom she has taken away from each experience -- passion, tolerance, patience, and above all, always telling the truth. Ultimately, she not only expresses what her famously talented son has meant to her but what he has meant to music and an entire generation.

 

Balancing Act
Click to order via Amazon

by Jonathan Plummer, Karen Hunter

Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Pocket (September 4, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416537406

Jonathan Plummer made headlines when New York Times bestselling author Terry McMillan -- whose novel How Stella Got Her Groove Back is based on their romance -- filed for divorce, claiming that Plummer hid his homosexuality in order to marry her for her money and gain U.S. citizenship. Now Plummer delivers a sexy and satisfying novel as deliciously racy as the life he lived.

Justin Blakeman is living an ordinary life in Jamaica when vacationing Tasha Reynolds spots him selling sugar cane on the street. He, of course, has no idea that her modeling agency is fast becoming the hottest in the business. He plans to live the island life set out for him, stepping up to head the family sugar cane enterprise in time.

In the ruthless modeling world, Tasha is a great white shark with an uncanny knack for finding blazing new talent in unusual places. She always gets what she wants and she wants Justin -- whose hazel-green eyes, offset by dark chocolate skin, make her palms sweat, a sign that she is on to something. His perfect body and defiant attitude will make him a megastar.

But soon, a relationship that began as strictly business crosses the line into a complex game of sexual desire and control. Their crazy, volatile bond -- littered with dark influences from their pasts, complicated by ambition, and fueled by insatiable passion -- is as combustible as relationships can get. And when Justin discovers a hidden hunger for a male model, the stakes are higher than ever.

 

On The Up And Up: A Survival Guide for Women Living with Men on the Down Low
Click to order via Amazon

by Brenda Stone Browder and Karen Hunter

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Kensington (February 1, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0758210752

J.L. King’s groundbreaking New York Times bestseller, On the Down Low, revealed the shocking truth about one man’s secret life. Now, hear the other side of the story in this inspiring, informative book by the one woman who can tell it right, the one woman who knows—his ex-wife.

“On the Up and Up reveals the woman’s side of life with a man on the DL. It has been my prayer that through my book Brenda would get an understanding of why I did what I did.” —J.L. King, ex-husband to Brenda Stone Browder and New York Times bestselling author of On The Down Low: A Journey into the Lives of “Straight” Black Men Who Sleep with Men

How do you know if he’s on the down low?

How can you start living on the up and up?

“For more than fifteen years I kept his secret. For more than fifteen years I lived with a lie—his lie that had become my life. Perhaps I felt even after all of those years that I was responsible somehow for what had happened to me. Perhaps it was the feeling that I was all alone, that I was the only woman in the world who had this happen to me, that also kept me silent. But after fifteen years of secrecy, I am ready to speak…”

When On the Down Low, Jimmy King’s sensational confessional about “straight” African-American men sleeping with other men, hit the New York Times bestseller list, there was one person who already knew the story because she had lived it with him—his ex-wife, Brenda Stone Browder. For eight years, Brenda was married to a man who was not only cheating on her but cheating on her with other men. For eight years, she ignored the signs, the clues, and her intuition. She made his lie hers. And she paid the price. Now, she’s ready to tell her story, one that offers hope and healing.

Countering shame with love, pain with hope, On the Up and Up is a book that breaks down the cycle of secrets and lies and helps every woman to come out of the shadows and start living life on their own terms—on the up and up.
 

I Make My Own Rules
Click to order via Amazon

by L. L. Cool J and Karen Hunter

Mass Market Paperback: 234 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (September 15, 1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312967861

LL Cool J.
Read his story.
Learn from his words.
Make your own rules.

"A stellar example of how to endure, grow up and become an adult in the perpetually adolescent world of rap."  —The Source

"There are rebels and there are innovators. I'm an innovator." —L.L. Cool J

"Keeping it real ain't about carrying a gun or smoking blunts. It's about being true to yourself and those around you." —L.L. Cool J

"In this business, sex is like candy-plentiful and cheap." —L.L. Cool J

 

And the The Ritz Harper Chronicles with "The Queen of All Media" Wendy Williams

Is the Bitch Dead, Or What?: The Ritz Harper Chronicles Book 2
Click to order via Amazon

by Wendy Williams, Karen Hunter

ISBN: 0767924878
Pub. Date: February 13, 2007
Format: Paperback, 256pp
Publisher: Broadway Books

DJ Ritz Harper used every trick in the book to become a media darling in Drama Is Her Middle Name, shock-jock Wendy Williams's exposé of a life she knows better than anyone. Playing a clever trick of her own, Williams left her heroine on the brink of death at the end of the novel. Now the second installment of the chronicles reveals what Williams's readers are dying to know: Is the Bitch Dead, or What?

The drive-by shooting that brought her down forces Ritz to look back on her climb to the top and the people she loved, lost, used, and abused along the way. There's the brief dalliance with Tracee, her best friend, and the romance with a man with some secrets of his own; the loss of her beloved Aunt M; and the recent appearance of the father who abandoned her and is now demanding a financial payoff and fifteen minutes of fame. At the heart of it all is Ritz's need to figure out where the real-life Ritz ends and the radio bitch begins.

For the huge audience hooked on The Wendy Williams Experience and readers itching to find out what happens to the over-the-top star of Drama Is Her Middle Name, Is the Bitch Dead, or What? is packed with all the irresistible shocks and insider dish that make Williams the hottest voice in America today.

 

Drama Is Her Middle Name
Click to order via Amazon

by Wendy Williams, Karen Hunter

ISBN: 076792486X
Pub. Date: June 2006
Format: Paperback, 224pp
Publisher: Broadway Books

Ritz is a suburban girl on the outside, but inside she's a hustler's hustler who's masterfully maneuvered her way into the spotlight after ruining the career of a well-respected newswoman (and former college friend). Ritz's "exclusive" rockets her to the top of the ratings and she's rewarded with her very own show. Like a talking Venus-flytrap, she verbally seduces her on-air guests, only to have them for lunch as she spews gossip about their lives.

Ritz becomes the darling of the station's afternoon slot. But what happens when Ritz goes from drive-time diva to drive-by victim? Has Ritz bad-mouthed the wrong person? Has her signature cat-and-mouse "Bomb drop" been dropped on her instead?

As Ritz lies crumpled on a city sidewalk, all she can think as she struggles to maintain consciousness is "Who did this to me? Who?"

Readers will salivate as they try to figure out where the fictional Ritz ends and the real-life Wendy begins. Wendy will involve her millions of listeners by asking them what should happen to Ritz, which will be revealed at the beginning of the next novel, scheduled to be published in fall of 2006 for Christmas.

 

...Plus Many Other Titles Click Here for a Full List

Related Links

Karen Hunter, First African-American Female News Columnist At Daily News, To Teach At Hunter College
http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/news/newsreleases/2002/karen_hunter.html

 

AALBC.com Home | Advertise | Discussion | Chat | Books | Fun Stuff | About AALBC.com | Writer's Resources | Get on the AALBC.com | Reviews | Events | Send us Feedback | Privacy Policy | Buy Any Book]

Copyright © 1997-2007 AALBC.com, LLC - http://aalbc.com