The Awkward Black Man

Description

Bestselling author Walter Mosley has proven himself a master of narrative tension, both with his extraordinary fiction and gripping writing for television. The Awkward Black Man collects seventeen of Mosley's most accomplished short stories to showcase the full range of his remarkable talent. Mosley presents distinct characters as they struggle to move through the world in each of these stories?heroes who are awkward, nerdy, self-defeating, self-involved, and, on the whole, odd. He overturns the stereotypes that corral black male characters and paints a subtle, powerful portrait of each of these unique individuals. In "The Good News Is," a man's insecurity about his weight gives way to a serious illness and the intense loneliness that accompanies it. Deeply vulnerable, he allows himself to be taken advantage of in return for a little human comfort in a raw display of true need. "Pet Fly," previously published in the New Yorker, follows a man working as a mailroom clerk for a big company?a solitary job for which he is overqualified?and the unforeseen repercussions he endures when he attempts to forge a connection beyond the one he has with the fly buzzing around his apartment. And "Almost Alyce" chronicles failed loves, family loss, alcoholism, and a Zen approach to the art of begging that proves surprisingly effective. Touching and contemplative, each of these unexpected stories offers the best of one of our most gifted writers.

Walter Mosley is one of America's best loved authors. He is the author of the internationally bestselling Easy Rawlins series, and his novels include DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS, which was made into the acclaimed film of the same name starring Denzel Washington and Don Cheadle. His books have been translated into 23 languages and have sold more than 3.5 million copies to date. He has also been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Book Foundation. He lives in New York City. www.waltermosley.com