{"id":2729,"date":"2021-01-05T13:47:40","date_gmt":"2021-01-05T20:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/?p=2729"},"modified":"2021-01-05T13:47:40","modified_gmt":"2021-01-05T20:47:40","slug":"walter-mosley-the-short-version","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/?p=2729","title":{"rendered":"Walter Mosley, the short version"},"content":{"rendered":"

Years ago, a review by Bob Moyer introduced me to the works of Walter Mosley. Since then, I have read many of Mosley’s outstanding \u00a0and evocative mysteries, including many \u00a0of the early ones I had missed. \u00a0Now I’ll have to add this book of stories to my reading list.<\/p>\n

Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer<\/p>\n

THE AWKWARD BLACK MAN. By Walter Mosley. Grove Press. 336 pages. $26.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Men. Awkward Black men, plural, populate the pages of these 17 stories. Each one of them, mostly middle-aged, has a problem that complicates his life. The man with a \u201cPet Fly\u201d \u00a0makes pathetic attempts at courting that get him charged with harassment. In therapy for 31 years, the writer in \u201cCut Cut Cut\u201d just feels \u201cstuck.\u201d \u00a0 \u201cLeading From the Affair\u201d his wife had, a husband finds himself \u201don a flat plane of insurance claims\u201d and searches for a way out.<\/p>\n

These stories roll across the pages with the trademark Walter Mosley rhythms. The man knows how to turn a phrase, tap into the vernacular. The overweight young man who sits down next to the \u201cThe Black Woman in the Chinese Hat\u201d has by the end of the day found \u201c…the intimacy and the closeness I had always wanted but never suspected until that day.\u201d\u00a0 A fellow employee tells the same character in another story, \u201c…man forget he\u2019s black for you could say Jackie Robinson.\u201d None of these phrases ask us to stop and appreciate them; they only serve to sharpen the details of each story\u2019s\u00a0mise en scene.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>And that\u2019s where Mosley flaunts his mastery. In every story, a shift that surprises both the Black man and the reader emerges. Both of his psychiatrists dismiss the man who was \u201cstuck,\u201d he loses his job, but he ends up starting a magazine so successful that \u201cThe anxiety this notoriety produces is sublime, and at the same time, almost unbearable.\u201d\u00a0 The bank teller who has never made a mistake in thousands of transactions but never advanced, attracts the offer of a lifetime when he blows off the one job interview he tries. Every denouement ranges from satisfying to phenomenal. To reveal any more scenarios would detract from the pleasure of these pieces.<\/p>\n

Mosley has frequently been called America\u2019s best Black mystery writer. Indeed, every story here in some way throws light on the Black man\u2019s plight in America. But being stuck, socially inept, trapped in a job \u2014 Mosley\u2019s stories reflect the human condition. He is much more than a Black mystery writer. \u00a0He is flat out one of America\u2019s best writers, and this book shows his hand at the short version of his art.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Years ago, a review by Bob Moyer introduced me to the works of Walter Mosley. Since then, I have read many of Mosley’s outstanding \u00a0and evocative mysteries, including many \u00a0of the early ones I had missed. \u00a0Now I’ll have to add this book of stories to my reading list. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,89],"tags":[143,1180,79],"class_list":["post-2729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mysteries","category-short-fiction","tag-short-stories","tag-the-awkward-black-man","tag-walter-mosley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2729"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2731,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2729\/revisions\/2731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}