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The Awkward
Black Man: Stories
by Walter Mosley
c.2020, Grove Press
$26.00 / higher in Canada
336 pages
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Truth Contributor
Right now, you're living
your best life.
That's all. It's not
complicated: you roll with whatever happens, and try not to
worry; your path is before you, and you're light-footed
enough to react swiftly if needed. Flexible, that's the way
to be because, as in The Awkward Black Man, a
collection of stories by Walter Mosley, plans can go
south in a minute.
Sampson Diehl was finally
dropping some weight and he looked great. The bad news was
that he had cancer. But he also had money, a soon-to-be-ex
wife, a girlfriend, and a private nurse. In "The Good News
Is," that's a lot for one man to lose. |
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When Alyce walked out of
his life, Albert Roundhouse hoped that someday, she might
come back. Nobody'd ever take her place, though he met other
women as he traveled the world and lived off the kindness of
others and the money he could beg – and then he saw Frankie,
and in "Almost Alyce," Frankie could've been Alyce's sister,
maybe, nearly, except for that little job she hired Albert
to do...
When his wife, Marguerite,
cheated on him, Jared took her back because, well, he loved
her. But then the spark went out of their marriage and she
ruined his dreams. In "Starting Over," Jared didn't
understand why Marguerite did what she did, until a
co-worker said something that struck him right in the heart.
On the afternoon that
Chase Martin ran away from school, he was sure the police
were looking for him. Instead of cops, though, Chase was
found in the woods by a homeless man who seemed to be
troubled. When the man turned out to be a thief, Chase lost
everything but in "Otis," he gained something, too.
Six months after his
brother, Seth, died, a strange man visited Roger with a
message from beyond. Roger and Seth were never close, not
even as kids, but in "Reply to a Dead Man," Seth had plenty
to say.
Imagine, if you will, a
man with a heavy sigh on his lips, shaking his head ruefully
as though he can't quite believe what's happening.
That's the idea of what to expect in The Awkward Black
Man.
The stories inside this
book are like a rained-out Saturday afternoon event. They're
like a bad car battery when you just bought four tires. Like
inkstains on a brand-new shirt: irksome, not life-or-death,
but leaving you wondering what you did to deserve this. But
here: though these tales might remind you of a busted
shoelace on your favorite kicks, you're going to love every
one of them because author Walter Mosley is the kind of
storyteller that makes his characters' worst days into
something you can recognize and relate to.
Been there. Done that.
Lived, too. Gonna be okay.
Fans of Mosley don't need
to be told twice to go find this book. Just go. If you're
new to Mosley but you love short stories, though, The
Awkward Black Man might be the best book for your life
right now.
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