The Great Walter Mosley

It ain't no secret that me and Walter Mosley books are quite fond of one another.

Seriously I love to read. You can't pay my older sister to pick up a book. Same parents, same upbringing and she's allergic to reading. That really has nothing to do with anything but I just wanted to mention her (luv u Shaunda!)

Anyway I've read a lot of books. For the longest time I thought something was wrong with me because I could never get into black authors. I used to think it was because black authors for the most part are only promoted if they operate within the confinements of "African American Literature". (you know that little section off to the side at the bookstore) What that means to me is over the top relationship dramas with over sexed, over-stereotyped character (the thug, the good man, the professional conflicted sexy main character, the mother, the gossipy friends,etc..) with a quaint religious overtone and weird endings. Never liked them. Still don't. Then there is the black erotica with Zane leading the way. Personally, speaking just for me of course, 10 pages describing a sex scene is too much for me (let me get this right a sorority that does what?). Then you got your "Gansta/Street Novels" Iceberg Slim and Donald Goings inspired writings describing the thug life and pimping. I got into these slightly a little more. Whoreson was decent. Pimp was decent. I didn't get excited by it especially. (*note if reading Pimp changed your life you had a suck ass life).

I've read the classics. Autobiography of Malcom X, The Color Purple, stuff like that. Why did I always have to read about blacks struggling in the ghetto or having sex? Where is the action, the suspense, the mystery....the imagination. Sure black authors write about what they know. The struggles of ghetto life and violence and sex are something we see everyday. I know, I know. That's why I started reading. In a small town a ghetto child too smart for public school doesn't have many choices. Play sports and hang with a bunch of dudes all day (negative captain). Walk up and down the streets getting into trouble (not happening). Find a creative outlet and dream about tomorrow (ding ding ding!!). Black authors stories never soared above my surroundings. They explained exactly what I figured I wanted to avoid. They left me tired and bored. Til I read Devil in a Blue Dress.

It was everything I liked about reading. Easy Rawlins is a man with a tough, colorful life story, a dangerous best friend, a pention for doing favors, and a skill for getting in and out of trouble. Over all the Easy Rawlins' Mysteries , Mr. Mosley has built a world of very believable people(black and white) dealing with all the major events of US history and confronting issues of race, class, life, and death. The stories are very well written and keep you engaged. It changed my mind about black authors. Now I realize what is promoted is not a complete picture of the black author.

Cinnamon Kiss is the latest of the Easy Rawlins Mysteries. I love this one just as much as the others. This time around Easy's daughter Feather is dying of a rare blood disorder. Easy has to come up with $30,000 for a treatment. He's about to turn back to the streets with a plan Mouse cooked up to get a lot of fast money, when he's hired to find a missing woman known as Cinnamon. As always things get more complicated as things go on with Feather's life in the balance. It's a good book.

Now I see that black authors are like all authors. The good ones are always there and they are covered by the millions of wack writers in the world. I just have to look for them.

Feel free to read the entire Easy Rawlins collection:
Devil in a Blue Dress, White Butterfly, A Red Death, Little Yellow Dog, Black Betty, Big Bad Brawly Brown, and Little Scarlet.