Thanks for the great report, Carrie. Enjoyed it!
Ed Lynskey
--- Carrie Pruett <
pruettc@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> I went to see Walter Mosley last night at Borders -
what a
> cool guy. He is
> a very entertaining reader - read from his new book
"Bad Boy
> Brawly Brown" -
> and an interesting speaker. He had a great rapport
with the
> audience and
> although it was quite a large crowd he made the
event feel
> intimate. I have
> been reading several of his books in the past week
and I
> enjoyed them
> although I don't think that he'll ever be one of my
favorites.
> Still, I'd
> encourage anybody who has a chance to hear him read
to go for
> it (although I
> think he said that this was the last stop of his
tour).
>
> Questions he addressed -
> he's from LA originally, although he hasn't lived
there since
> the 1970s! I
> found that interesting, I don't know where he lives
now. I
> assume somewhere
> on the east coast since he was ending his tour in
Virginia but
> he didn't
> volunteer the information and it seemed rude to ask.
He
> enjoyed the movie
> of "Devil in a Blue Dress," and there are various
film and TV
> projects he
> may be involved with in the future, but it's hard to
tell how
> those things
> go and it's not a priority for him. If Mosley had
been in
> charge of the
> film, he would have made it differently but, he
added, that's
> not to say his
> version would be better. He likes Denzel Washington
but
> thinks he is "too
> expensive" and in any case he thinks that Don
Cheadle's Mouse
> was the "great
> performance" in the movie (much applause on this
point).
>
> Mosley has written mysteries, sci-fi, and literary
fiction,
> but he doesn't
> really think about genre when he writes. He just
writes the
> stories that he
> wants to tell. He considers his "genre" to be
writing about
> black male
> heroes. He was a computer programmer before he was a
writer,
> and he used to
> get up at 5 in the morning and write for 3 hours
before going
> to work. Now
> he still writes for 3 hours every day, and he finds
he can't
> be productive
> if he tries to write more than that (one awed
audience member
> kept asking
> what he does for the rest of the day, but most of us
thought
> that was funny,
> esp. those who have tried their hand at writing).
His first
> book was "Gone
> Fishing" but he couldn't sell it because of the
stereotype
> that "white
> people don't read about black people, black women
don't read
> about black
> men, and black men don't read." He hopes that his
success has
> helped to
> dispel these stereotypes.
>
> Someone asked about other writers he liked, I'm
afraid I
> didn't hear most of
> his responses, though I did catch Gary Phillips'
name. He
> didn't mention
> any "classic" mystery writers that I recognized and
in fact he
> said that
> when he started writing the "color" themed titles he
wasn't
> aware that John
> D. MacDonald had already done this. In fact, Mosley
didn't
> intend to start
> this theme with his own books. His first published
book was
> "Devil in a
> Blue Dress" then he wrote "A Red Death", which was a
reference
> to Edgar
> Allan Poe. It was only with the next book that his
editor
> asked him what
> the "color" would be in the title and Mosley
realized that the
> editor was
> expecting another color, so he has continued with
that theme.
>
> Addressing the relationship between Easy and Mouse,
Mosley
> said that HE
> would not be friends with Mouse, and if Mouse lived
next door,
> he (Mosley)
> would move out and not leave a forwarding address.
However,
> Easy uses Mouse
> to "back him up" the same way that the powerful men
Easy
> confronts have the
> police and other institutions. Easy doesn't think
that Mouse
> is the most
> amoral or evil person in the books, Mouse is just
more honest
> and accepting
> about the code that he lives by.
>
> I got my copy of "Brawly Brown" signed and in the
great
> tradition of having
> something intelligent to say to an author, I blurted
out "I
> like your
> glasses." He was wearing these very vivid
multicolored
> glasses with
> sparkles in the frames. He said, "Thanks"
(sincerely, I
> think) then added
> "they are cheap and they break easily, you can buy
them in any
> bookstore."
>
> carrie
>
>
> -
> Pictures of perfection, as you know,
> make me sick and wicked - Jane Austen
>
=====
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