Overview
This masterpiece by celebrated New York Times bestselling author Walter Mosley is the mysterious story of a young Black man who agrees to an unusual bargain to save the home that has belonged to his family for generations. The man at Charles Blakey's door has a proposition almost too strange for words. The stranger offers him $50,000 in cash to spend the summer in Charles's basement, and Charles cannot even begin to guess why. The beautiful house has been in the Blakey family for generations, but Charles has just lost his job and is behind on his mortgage payments. The money would be welcome. But Charles Blakey is black and Anniston Bennet is white, and it is clear that the stranger wants more than a basement view. There is something deeper and darker about his request, and Charles does not need any more trouble. But financial necessity leaves him no choice. Once Anniston Bennet is installed in his basement, Charles is cast into a role he never dreamed of. Anniston has some very particular requests for his landlord, and try as he might, Charles cannot avoid being lured into Bennet's strange world. At first he resists, but soon he is tempted -- tempted to understand a set of codes that has always eluded him, tempted by the opportunity to understand the secret ways of white folks. Charles's summer with a man in his basement turns into an exploration of inconceivable worlds of power and manipulation, and unimagined realms of humanity. Walter Mosley pierces long-hidden veins of justice and morality with startling insight into the deepest mysteries of human nature.
The man at Charles Blakey's door has a proposition almost too strange for words. The stranger offers him $50,000 in cash to spend the summer in Charles's basement, and Charles cannot even begin to guess why. The beautiful house has been in the Blakey family for generations, but Charles has just lost his job and is behind on his mortgage payments. The money would be welcome. But Charles Blakey is black and Anniston Bennet is white, and it is clear that the stranger wants more than a basement view. There is something deeper and darker about his request, and Charles does not need any more trouble. But financial necessity leaves him no choice. Once Anniston Bennet is installed in his basement, Charles is cast into a role he never dreamed of. Anniston has some very particular requests for his landlord, and try as he might, Charles cannot avoid being lured into Bennet's strange world. At first he resists, but soon he is tempted -- tempted to understand a set of codes that has always eluded him, tempted by the opportunity to understand the secret ways of white folks. Charles's summer with a man in his basement turns into an exploration of inconceivable worlds of power and manipulation, and unimagined realms of humanity. Walter Mosley pierces long-hidden veins of justice and morality with startling insight into the deepest mysteries of human nature.
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Details
- ISBN-13: 9780316159319
- ISBN-10: 031615931X
- Publisher: Back Bay Books
- Publish Date: February 2005
- Dimensions: 8.22 x 5.52 x 0.77 inches
- Shipping Weight: 0.54 pounds
- Page Count: 272
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The Man in My Basement
A master of many genres, including mystery and science fiction, Mosley has now produced a profound, fully imagined piece of literary fiction, a novel that privileges philosophical discussion over action-packed plotlines. Unemployed and swimming in debt, Charles Blakey leads a solitary life in Sag Harbor, in the large, rambling house he inherited from his family. Blakey, whose ancestors were free blacks, can trace his roots in America back to the 17th century, and his basement is packed with relics from his family's past. When a stranger named Anniston Bennet—a wealthy white man—offers him $50,000 to rent out the basement for the summer, Blakey considers the proposition because he needs the money. Bennet's offer comes with an odd condition, but Blakey eventually accepts it, and what transpires between the men once Bennet takes up residence in the basement is a fascinating exercise in racial dynamics. The pair engage in an extended dialogue about the effects of power, about forgiveness and redemption, about the nature of humanity and the consequences of history. Hailed as a masterpiece, this fast-moving novel of ideas has been compared to Albert Camus' The Stranger and Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. Fans of Mosley's Easy Rawlins series will welcome the book as further evidence of the author's astounding versatility. A reading group guide is included in the book.
The Man in My Basement
A master of many genres, including mystery and science fiction, Mosley has now produced a profound, fully imagined piece of literary fiction, a novel that privileges philosophical discussion over action-packed plotlines. Unemployed and swimming in debt, Charles Blakey leads a solitary life in Sag Harbor, in the large, rambling house he inherited from his family. Blakey, whose ancestors were free blacks, can trace his roots in America back to the 17th century, and his basement is packed with relics from his family's past. When a stranger named Anniston Bennet—a wealthy white man—offers him $50,000 to rent out the basement for the summer, Blakey considers the proposition because he needs the money. Bennet's offer comes with an odd condition, but Blakey eventually accepts it, and what transpires between the men once Bennet takes up residence in the basement is a fascinating exercise in racial dynamics. The pair engage in an extended dialogue about the effects of power, about forgiveness and redemption, about the nature of humanity and the consequences of history. Hailed as a masterpiece, this fast-moving novel of ideas has been compared to Albert Camus' The Stranger and Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. Fans of Mosley's Easy Rawlins series will welcome the book as further evidence of the author's astounding versatility. A reading group guide is included in the book.