A new collection of short fiction from the Edgar Award-winning author of Devil in a Blue Dress and Trouble is What I Do. With his extraordinary fiction and gripping television writing, Walter Mosley has proven himself a master of narrative tension. The Awkward Black Man collects seventeen of Mosley’s most accomplished short stories to showcase the full range of his remarkable talent. Touching, … range of his remarkable talent. Touching, contemplative, and always surprising, these stories introduce an array of imperfect characters–awkward, self-defeating, self-involved, or just plain odd.
In The Awkward Black Man, Mosley overturns the stereotypes that corral black male characters and paints subtle, powerful portraits of unique individuals. In “The Good News Is,” a man’s insecurity about his weight gives way to illness and a loneliness so intense that he’d do anything for a little human comfort. “Pet Fly,” previously published in the New Yorker, follows a man working as a mailroom clerk–a solitary job for which he is overqualified–and the unforeseen repercussions he endures when he attempts to forge a new connection. And “Almost Alyce” chronicles failed loves, family loss, alcoholism, and a Zen approach to the art of begging that proves surprisingly effective.more
I heartily recommend #TheAwkwardBlackMan by Walter Mosley, and though I was given an ARC by #NetGalley as described below, I intend to buy a paper copy for my bookshelf.
Have you ever seen a piano setting out on the street unattended? Little girls run up to it giggling, and do their scales; maybe some boys chase them off and hit a few dark chords. Then a guy sits down and runs some riffs, and everyone stops–they just heard a bit of magic on the air, but the guy was only testing the piano, only warming up his fingers. Then he shoots some notes out to the left to see if the air will hold them, then he sends some down by the sidewalk where the pigeons strut, and he sends a few more notes to circle through the air. He’s just playing–testing–but he’s drawn a crowd because even his warm-ups, titles, and first lines are hypnotic delights. I imagine inevitably he picks one out of the air, a composition, a characterization–a string of words that sings to him, the voice he was looking for, and perhaps an Easy Rawlins is born.
These seventeen short stories comprise a masterclass in characterization as Mosley writes his so-called awkward Black men into various realities. I delighted in reading cases of stolen and/or mistaken identity, a western and a couple of science fiction stories, along with tales of genius and extraordinary intelligence, office workers, and professors–and the too often unused college education.
Mosley’s magic was in full force by the time I hit Breath, a nightmare that is, at times, teetering on the border of Poe’s premature burial. Breath is followed quickly by Reply to a Dead Man, the story of a company that will deliver your letters a specified period of time after your death, which is great for those things you’re afraid to tell someone while you’re still alive–perhaps for fear they might kill you? Or for fear of something worse?
Another one of my favorites was Haunted–there’s a rumor that authors never tire of rejected-author revenge stories–could that be true?
The Sin of Dreams explores the soul’s location and precisely what the feeling is that makes us believe we have a soul.
An Unlikely Series of Conversations is the final story. You’ll have to read this for yourself to understand why a bank teller would turn down a VP position at a Wall Street investment firm. Warning, once you wade in, it may be deeper than you expected.
Thanks to Grove Press, #NetGalley, and the author of #TheAwkwardBlackMan for the ARC in exchange for my honest feedback; this is it!
I was drawn to this book because I had read 2 previous mystery books by this author. I like to read mysteries. However these short stories are not mysteries, but character studies, each one about an “Awkward Black Man” in today’s American society. These short stories were uneven, ranging from depressing, about a homeless alcoholic, to the paranormal. In some cases, the man achieves a better place in life.
This quote is from the book blurb: “Mosley presents exceptional characters as they struggle to move through the world and navigate relationships, and paints a subtle, powerful portrait of each of these remarkable black people.”
The stories do give the reader some insight into the lives and perspective of Black people in the US today.
One quote: “But a man like me, a man whose ancestors were kidnapped, chained, and dragged over here centuries ago is not and cannot be a hyphenate. At least not the kind of hyphenate that you say. You might call me an Abductee American, an originally Unwilling American. You might say that I’m a partly Disenfranchised American.”
3.5 stars rounded down. Thanks to Grove Atlantic for sending me this eARC through NetGalley. #TheAwkwardBlackMan #NetGalley