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I don't know who the intended audience is for this book, but I think it should be required reading for everyone. From age 15 through 90. Liberal, conservative, egalitarian, libertarian, agnostic, spiritual, what have you.
I cannot put my respect for this book into words. I am saddened with the realization that this book will go unnoticed by many because of a number of reasons. This book deserves much more recognition than it has received to date.
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However, eight years after his release from the Indiana State Penitentiary, and his relocation to South Central L.A., he has become much more like his namesake. This collection of interrelated short stories together form a remarkable tale of subtle, and perhaps even unconscious, redemption. Socrates becomes a mentor, best friend, and invaluable member of society. In addition, he learns that not all is black and white, whether it be with regard to morality, or as between the races.
The stories and their moral teachings are subtle, like well-crafted fables. I read this in one evening, unable to put down this wonderfully written book.
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Central to this is anger'a theme that pervades not only Socrates' life, but that of those around him. Throughout the book, Socrates bubbles with an undefined rage at his surroundings, and ultimately he must find some way to accommodate that rage without letting it consume him. Even so, the good side of Socrates is always plainly evident: he's a father figure to a young boy, cares for his two-legged dog, and saves the life of a drunk. That's not to say that he's a "good" person, because he has killed people, but he is a man that's trying to do good things with life despite his past and despite the turmoil within him. Through his interactions with a neighborhood discussion group (a somewhat clumsy device) and a self-styled revolutionary, Socrates comes to discover that he has a right to be angry, but it's how that anger is channeled that will decide his fate. This is played out in a rushed and melodramatic final story that fits thematically with the rest of the book, but is kind of jarring.
Ultimately, the book's message is reasonably clear. Black men need to translate their anger into productive action and free themselves of the mental shackles that keep them from fulfilling their potential. For every person, this means something different, but even those who have committed the greatest sin can live a moral life. Which is not to say their aren't evil people in the world'or in their own community'but just because one lives in a ghetto doesn't mean the only solution is to leave. Rather, stay in the community and try and make it better'even though the man is trying to keep you down.
WALKIN' THE DOG is actually an interrelated short story collection that works because Walter Mosley makes each story show growth in Socrates. Nothing is sacred especially society's major social, political, and racial issues as the star of the book lives up to his more illustrious namesake with a street corner philosophy. Readers will enjoy this anthology and want to read the first Socrates story (see ALWAYS OUTNUMBERED, ALWAYS OUTGUNNED) as well as demand from Mr. Mosley a follow-up tale that shows what happens to the lead protagonist at the crosswalk of life.
Harriet Klausner
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Easy is in search of an erotic dream woman from his childhood who is being sought by one of those rich white families who have more skeletons than clothes in their closets. Around the same time, the very dangerous Raymond "Mouse" Alexander is released from the pen; and Easy's attempt to make a killing in the real estate market run up against a brick wall.
There are plot threads aplenty, and enough characters to fill a passenger liner. Mosley is too good a writer to leave any threads untied, but I do get lost at times with some of the characters. One bad dude is not heard from for a hundred pages when he commits a particularly heinous murder at the very end. "Oh, yeah, wasn't he the guy that ...?" Sometimes, I would have welcomed the list of characters, complete with nicknames, that occasionally accompanies an 800-page Russian novel.
What makes this a minor complaint is that Mosley has such a great sense of place and so much feeling for his characters. We don't meet the character he calls "Black Betty" until the end of the novel, but we keep seeing vignettes from Easy's past that keep building up the suspense, and any expectations are more than fulfilled by an ending that is bloodier than the last act of Hamlet.
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Set among the gang wars and internal race politics of Compton, California, Bad Boy Brawly Brown is the story of a young man caught up in a political movement that becomes something too big for him to handle. The boy, however, happens to be the stepson of Easy's close friend, John.
When Brawly runs off to join the Urban Revolutionary Party (kind of like the Black Panthers), John gets worried and asks Easy to help him out. What follows is a tense, urban thriller where Easy (haunted by the voice of his maybe dead friend Mouse) is trying to save Brawly before he sinks too deeply into the shady underworld of Compton.
Mosley has, yet again, created soem incredibly real characters with complicated, yet believable, problems. One of the best elements of Bad Boy Brawly Brown is the exploration of the father-son relationship between Easy and his son Juice in parallel with John and Brawly. This added character development elevtaes BBBB above the genre mysteries and keeps Mosley at the top of his field.
For anyone who likes some brains with their mysteries, Walter Mosley is the man.
In his search for Brawley, Easy enters the world of the Urban Revolutionary, a political group that wants to make life better for the residents of Compton. But there is somehting else going that only Easy can uncover. Through his investigation, readers become reacquainted with Mofass, Jewelle, Odell, Jesus, Feather and the little yellow dog. As Easy searches the dark streets of Compton he recalls lessons he has learned from Mouse and surprisingly one from Fearless Jones that helps him understand the man that he has become.
There are plenty of concurrent themes throughout the novel - father/son relationship, foster children, children growing up without parents, grief, depression, child abuse, greed and a parents love for their children. Mosley tied them all together to give his readers a wonderful, suspense novel.
What can you say about Walter Mosley! Not enough! He is an extraordinary writer and we are glad to have him and Easy back! You'll find each page is a cliff hanger. Mosley has a way of giving you just enough to make you turn the page to find out more. But pay attention - because as soon as you think you have it solved - you realize that you Mosley is and will always be the Master of mysteries.
Peace and Blessings!!
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You want to get the three book set! The plots are complicated but there are no loose ends, the characters are strongly drawn, and Mr. Mosley has created a world you will want to return to after reading each novel.
Read them in chronological order, and enjoy!