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Fortunate Son: Summary and book reviews of Fortunate Son by Walter Mosley, plus links to an excerpt from Fortunate Son and a biography of Walter Mosley.
Fortunate Son
by
Walter Mosley
Hardcover: Apr 2006,
320 pages.
Paperback: Aug 2007,
336 pages.
New York Times bestselling author Walter Mosley’s novel about two boys, one ensconced in a life of privilege and the other in a life of hardship, explores the true meaning of fortune.
In spite of remarkable differences, Eric and Tommy are as close as brothers. Eric, a Nordic Adonis, is graced by a seemingly endless supply of good fortune. Tommy is a lame black boy, cursed with health problems, yet he remains optimistic and strong.
After tragedy rips their makeshift family apart, the lives of these boys diverge astonishingly: Eric, the golden youth, is given everything but trusts nothing; Tommy, motherless and impoverished, has nothing, but feels lucky every day of his life. In a riveting story of modern-day resilience and redemption, the two confront separate challenges, and when circumstances reunite them years later, they draw on their extraordinary natures to confront a common enemy and, ultimately, save their lives.
Book Reviews
BookBrowse
The tale is enjoyable but predictable to the point that it is best to read it as a sort of parable; but if that's the case, what exactly is the moral lesson Mosley wishes to impart? Is it that nurture is more important that nature, or perhaps that those who have life handed to them on a plate appreciate it less than those who have to fight for it? Or is it about prejudice and racism? Perhaps it's about all of that and much else. Then again, maybe Mosley just set out to write a story of two brothers and this is how it turned out! Full Review (members only, 605 words).
Publishers Weekly
Starred review. Mosley shows how a certain kind of inarticulate, carnal, involuntary affection transcends just about anything.
Booklist - Allison Block
Starred review. Mosley weaves the themes of race, destiny, and redemption into an astonishing tale of unlikely siblings and unconditional love.
Library Journal
The writing is crisp and the plotting impeccable. Enthusiastically recommended.
Kirkus Reviews
Mosley makes his simple tale gripping through the studied artlessness of his storytelling.
The New York Times - Janet Maslin
By the time he ends the book, Mr. Mosley has compromised its allegorical bluntness by seeking a transcendence that eludes him. And the three-dimensional world is no closer than it was at the start.
Houston Chronicle
A coming-of-age story, Fortunate Son contains an unwieldy blend of ghosts, auras, sex, violence, murder, mayhem and love.
Chicago Sun-Times
It is a brilliant book, rumbling with life, scary and sacred and scented with everything that makes Los Angeles our best heaven and our best hell, a perfect backdrop for Eric's and Tommy's dream story.
You are about to travel to Edgecombe St. Mary, a small village in the English countryside filled with rolling hills, thatched cottages, and a cast of characters both hilariously original and as familiar as the members of your own family.
The Postmistress is an unforgettable tale of the secrets we must bear, or bury. It is about what happens to love during wartime, when those we cherish leave. And how every story-of love or war-is about looking left when we should have been looking right.
Masterfully blending true events with fiction, this blockbuster historical thriller delivers a page-turning murder mystery set on the sixteenth-century Oxford University campus.
Kostova's masterful new novel travels from American cities to the coast of Normandy, from the late 19th century to the late 20th, from young love to last love. The Swan Thieves is a story of obsession, history's losses, and the power of art to preserve human hope.
Lisa See has written a great book! This story is satisfying on many levels, some scenes horrifying, but seemingly truthful, and her handling of the ...
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I was sorry to see that there were so few reviews. I started reading COAL and could not stop. The only thing I am going to say is that I wish ...
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The tragedy, the sorrow, the loss, is almost too much for me to recommend this; on the other hand Mistry made me believe I knew these characters. I ...
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Fortunate Son
BookBrowse
(members only, 605 words).
Publishers Weekly
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