I’m really in awe of Walter Mosley’s Socrates Fortlow books. This, the third and I suspect the last, is just as good as the first two. It’s insightful, powerful, philosophical, and utterly compelling.
Like its predecessors, ‘Aways Outnumbered, Always Outgunned’ and ‘Walkin the Dog’, ‘The Right Mistake’ is an LA set collection of related short stories about the life of ex-con Socrates Fortlow. In this book, Fortlow is running a centre helping local people in the neighbourhood he lives in. He has become a leader, something that would have surprised me at the start of his journey, but which now feels like a natural progression. The stories focus on his relationship with a young woman and on the people who help him at the centre. They also cover extensively his interactions with the police, who hound him throughout the book.
Fortlow is a remarkable character, completely believable despite being somewhat iconic. He’s wise and determined, his words and actions measured and filled with a stoicism and intelligence that leaps off the page and lingers. The political side of the books has always been there, but it comes to the fore in this book in an incredible speech from Fortlow about race, racial identity and prejudice. It’s masterfully written and very powerful, all the more so because it has more questions than it does answers.
Taken together the books are an amazing achievement. They have the readability of the best popular fiction combined with the striking intelligence and political message of something like Ibram X Kendi’s ‘How to be an Anti-racist’. Beyond that, Fortlow’s gradual growth and redemption is truly inspirational. He’s a memorable, convincing character who is honest about his own shortcomings without descending into introspective self-pity. This is crime fiction that gets to the heart of the genre. It’s about the impact our actions, good and bad, have on those around us. About the importance of forgiveness. About how the structures of our society and legal systems shape lives. It’s brilliant.
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Not as good as the rest of the series and a bit disjointed. I don't think Mosley did a good job of tying Walkin the Dog to this one. There was only a brief mention of Iula and none of the dog at all. the story, as a stand alone, would have been pretty decent. As a series, though, it fell a bit short. all in all, I really enjoyed the Socrates Fortlow series and will miss him terribly! ( )

Wow this book was a great read! I honestly didn't think I would enjoy it but upon beginning, I kept reading. I am the type of person who reads about 50 books at a time, seriously...but when I started reading this one...I kept coming back to it until it was completed. It was just really good. The man was released from prison for murder and creates a group for discussions with various members who come together to meetings. They are all from different walks of life, different races, different careers, if any and some of them have been in prison, others nowhere near. You just have to read it. Its actually a pretty inspiring read in some ways...telling you that even if you can't change the world, you can talk about it and try to change it a little bit at a time...it does work! ( )

Socrates Fortlow, a former convict and convicted murderer, decides to bring a wide-ranging group of people together to discuss the problems of their world. Many of these are people who have been in trouble with the law, which creates problems for Socrates, because the law decides his Thursday night thinker's meetings are dangerous. For the local people, however, Socrates provides something much more important: a chance to get together and work out the things that plague them, to figure out how to resolve problems both internal and external. Although I usually avoid audio books with the same fervor I avoid rattlesnakes, this one actually is probably better as an audiobook, because the different dialects of the characters adds something to the story that can't be fully experienced in a written text. ( )

Very different from anything I have read before, this book brought to light a life perspective from the "other side of the tracks." Enlightening and hopeful. ( )