Always Outnumbered Always Outgunned Uk - Hardcover

Mosley, Walter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1852425180 ISBN 13: 9781852425180

Publisher: Serpents Tail/consortium, 1997

Synopsis

Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned features Socrates Fortlow, an ex-convict determined to challenge the violence and anarchy in his world and in himself. Like Socrates the Greek, Socrates Fortlow asks a lot of questions in an attempt to understand his world but, unlike his Athenian predecessor his take on the world is from the ghetto - from the bottom up. Not everyone will agree with Socrates' ethical solutions but no one will deny his pugnacious ability to grapple with the most important moral dilemmas of our time. Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned showcases the Socratic dialogues of our time.

About this title

Review

In this cycle of 14 bittersweet stories, Walter Mosley breaks out of the genre--if not the setting--of his bestselling Easy Rawlins detective novels. Only eight years after serving out a prison sentence for murder, Socrates Fortlow lives in a tiny, two-room Watts apartment, where he cooks on a hot plate, scavenges for bottles, drinks, and wrestles with his demons. Struggling to control a seemingly boundless rage--as well as the power of his massive "rock-breaking" hands--Socrates must find a way to live an honorable life as a black man on the margins of a white world, a task which takes every ounce of self-control he has.

Easy Rawlins fans might initially find themselves disappointed by the absence of a mystery to unravel. But it's a gripping inner drama that unfolds over the pages of these stories, as Socrates comes to grips with the chaos, poverty, and violence around him. He tries to get and keep a job delivering groceries; takes in a young street kid named Darryl, who has his own murder to hide; and helps drive out the neighborhood crack dealer. Throughout, Mosley captures the rhythms of Watts life in prose both musical and hard-edged, resulting in a haunting look at a life bounded by lust, violence, fear, and a ruthlessly unsentimental moral vision.

About the Author

Walter Mosley is the author of over twenty critically acclaimed books and his work has been translated into twenty-one languages. His popular mystery series featuring Easy Rawlins began with Devil in a Blue Dress in 1990, which was later made into a film starring Denzel Washington. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he now lives in New York.

About this edition

• Publisher: Serpents Tail/consortium
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 1852425180
• ISBN 13: 9781852425180
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208