The Awkward Black Man

Walter Mosley's The Awkward Black Man collects seventeen short stories that showcase his talent for narrative tension and portrayal of unique characters. The stories feature awkward, nerdy, and self-involved black male characters who overturn stereotypes and are deeply vulnerable. They explore themes of loneliness, illness, and failed loves, offering touching and contemplative insights into the human experience.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 336 pages
Publication date: 20 January 2022
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co

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.

Weight: 236g
Dimension: 161 x 298 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781474623643