Walter Mosley - Known to Evil
A book reading and discussion with prominent American novelist, Walter Mosley, on his novel "Known to Evil".
Location: McCormick Hall 101
Date/Time: 02/15/11 at 4:30 pm - 02/15/11 at 6:00 pm
Free and Open to the public. Labyrinth Books will be on site selling books. Book signing to follow.
"Known to Evil"
Walter Mosley and his new hero, Leonid McGill, are back in the new New York Times-bestselling mystery series that’s already being hailed as a classic of contemporary noir.
Leonid McGill has been hired by New York City’s ultimate power broker, Alfonse Rinaldo, the fixer who seems to control every little thing that happens in New York City, has a problem that even he can’t fix. What Rinaldo can’t handle on his own, Leonid doesn’t really want to know. But he’s a client you can’t say no to, and so McGill sets off to track down a young woman for reasons no one will explain to him. Everyone’s motives are murky in McGill’s world; that, he’s used to. What he’s not quite accustomed to is his own recent commitment to the straight and narrow, a path that still seems to lead him directly to the city’s crookedest corners and down its darkest alleys, where his most unsavory acquaintances become his most cherished allies. In Known to Evil, Mosley shows us New York City as we’ve never seen it before, emphatically confirming his own reputation and firmly establishing Leonid McGill as one of the mystery world’s most iconic, charismatic leading men.
Walter Mosley was born in Los Angeles, California, on January 12th 1952. He grew up the only child of an African American father and a Jewish mother, which has been said to have influenced his writing. Little detail seems to be available about the author's early life aside from his schooling - he graduated from Johnston State College in 1977 - and his numerous and diverse employment history - including computer programmer. He moved to New York City in the early 1980s and studied writing at the City College of New York.
Walter Mosley sold his first book, Devil In A Blue Dress, in 1990 with the help of his teacher's literary agent. It was the first of the Easy Rawlins novels, and earned Walter Mosley excellent reviews. He is exceptionally prolific, and released several more Easy Rawlins novels in quick succession.
Mosley has wrote another detective series following Socrates Fortlaw, and a couple of books with the character Fearless Jones. Mosley has also experimented with afrofuturist science fiction, nonfiction, and young adult fiction. He has written 30 books in total so far, and has had a couple of his stories made into movies or television.
He has won numerous awards, including the Anisfield Wolf Award, which honours works that increase racial understanding and appreciation. He has also won the O'Henry Award, the Black Caucus of the American Library Association's Literary Award, a Grammy Award, a Risktaker Award from the Sundance Institute, and the Carl Brandon Society Parallax Award (he was the first recipient). He has also received an honorary doctorate degree from the City College in New York.
Category: Event
Department: Center for African American Studies