The Awkward Black Man

Stories

By: Walter Mosley

Narrated by: Mirron Willis

Best-selling 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 17 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.

©2020 Walter Mosley (P)2020 Tantor

So much fun!

What a range of stories, characters, and insights into the characters' lives! The best narration I've heard in a long time- like going to a play. Some of the stories do have humor, some of it sarcastic, and some of it just the way life is. I'll reread several of them for fun.

So good

I was engaged from the first story to the last. Each one was brilliantly written and took me through experiences I could never have or understand as a woman. Walter Mosley has a new fan!

Great Stories

Such a wonderful and diverse group of stories! You can read it all at once or take your time.

A masterful humanization of the black man

Every story was remarkably human and refreshingly black without being explicitly stated or rammed down our throats. Walter Mosley normalizes being uniquely black in a world where blackness is an old familiar trope. Each story was nothing more than an interesting and satisfying look into the life of another.

Love the stories disliked narrator’s voice.

The stories were great, but with narrator trying to talk with southern accent was painful to hear. He was putting extra emotions at times throughout this book and just doing too much. I would recommend this book only if somebody else narrated it.