-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
A masterful collection of stories that showcases one of the country's most beloved and acclaimed writers—award-winning author, Walter Mosley.
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.
"The tough-minded and tenderly observant Mosley style remains constant throughout these stories even as they display varied approaches from the gothic to the surreal. The range and virtuosity of these stories make this Mosley's most adventurous and, maybe, best book." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Master storyteller Mosley has created a beautiful collection about Black men who are, indeed, awkward in their poignant humanity…Mosley's is an essential American voice and his portraits of Black men will have profound resonance." —Booklist (starred review)
"Mosley delivers a vibrant collection of 17 luminous stories, many with a focus on downtrodden and troubled protagonists…Each entry is a testament to Mosley's enduring literary power." —Publishers Weekly
"Mr. Mosley is a famous crime writer, but this collection is nearer to the recent work of Julian Barnes and Roddy Doyle…In practiced, plainspoken prose, [Mosley] presents a gallery of old men facing divorce, illness or perhaps some more unnamable crisis of existence…The humble stories befit their soft-spoken antiheroes." —Wall Street Journal
"Fifty-plus books into his career, Mosley hasn't run out of inspired plots, and his interest in social issues remains acute, although he editorializes with the lightest of touches; The Awkward Black Man teems with sharp, quippy dialogue and not a sentence suffers the indignity of a frill…This primo story collection by an author best known for his crime fiction reaffirms his place in the literary pantheon." —Shelf Awareness
This information about The Awkward Black Man was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Walter Mosley is one of America's most celebrated and beloved writers. A Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America, he has won numerous awards, including the Anisfield-Wolf Award, a Grammy, a PEN USA's Lifetime Achievement Award, and several NAACP Image awards. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. His short fiction has appeared in a wide array of publications, including The New Yorker, GQ, Esquire, Los Angeles Times Magazine, and Playboy, and his nonfiction has been published in The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, and The Nation. He is the author of the acclaimed Easy Rawlins series among many other books. He lives in New York City.
Partial Bibliography
Easy Rawlins
Devil in a Blue Dress (1990)
A Red ...
... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to Walter Mosley's Website
Name Pronunciation
Walter Mosley: First syllable rhymes with those
If you liked The Awkward Black Man, try these:
by Jon Mooallem
Published 2022
From the discovery of the author's face in a century-old photograph to a triple-amputee hospice director working at the border of life and death, here are thirteen hopeful, heartbreaking, and profound essays from "one of the most intelligent, compassionate, and curious authors working today" (Elizabeth Gilbert).
by David Means
Published 2020
"One of the most talented writers of short fiction in America." - James Wood, The New Yorker
by Deborah Eisenberg
Published 2019
A much-anticipated collection of brilliantly observant short stories from one of the great American masters of the form.
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
