Product Description

'Socrates thought about a promise he'd made. He swore to himself that he'd never hurt another person...That way he could ease the evil deeds that he had perpetrated in the long evil life that he'd lived'. Socrates Fortlow has spent 27 years in prison and can kill a man with his bare hands. But now he's out and determined to use his strength for good, to help the downtrodden and oppressed of the Los Angeles ghetto. Like his Greek namesake, Socrates Fortlow asks questions in an attempt to understand his world. His attempt to find morality in poverty and deprivation makes Socrates a modern-day hero.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1446926 in Books
• Published on: 1998-10-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 208 pages

From Amazon.com
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.

From Library Journal
Esteemed actor Paul Winfield impeccably reads these "unabridged selections" from the cycle of 14 nonmystery stories in which Mosley introduces a new character, Socrates Fortlow. He is a brooding ex-convict who is stuggling to make sense of the violence, crime, fear, and disrespect in the black community where he lives. Each story focuses on a moral issue with which we witness Socrates argue, question, and fight his way to a dignified and responsible position and course of action. A winning production; highly recommended for all fiction collections.?Kristen L. Smith, Loras Coll. Lib., Dubuque, Iowa
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
On rare occasions, the skill and talents of author and narrator are both fully realized in one production; Mosley's latest is a shining example. Socrates Fortlow, having survived 27 years of hard time in prison, has settled in LA. Although he's low on money and job opportunites, the people and situations he encounters and examines, as he considers the meaning and worth of existence, make up a life that is far from ordinary. Paul Winfield's narration is rich, powerful and gentle, in turn, multi-layered and expressive. His skill at finding the right cadence for conversation, the voice for each character and his ability to quietly convey Socrates's strength and determination are matched by the cast of believable people created by the author. (This is no small feat in the short-story format.) The people met here--especially Socrates--are highly memorable. M.A.M. An AudioFile Earphones Award winner. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine