The Right Mistake
by Mosley, Walter
Living in South Central
L.A., Socrates Fortlow is a sixty-year-old ex-convict, still strong
enough to kill men with his bare hands. Now freed after serving
twenty-seven years in prison, he is filled with profound guilt about his
own crimes and disheartened by the chaos of the streets. Along with his
gambler friend Billy Psalms, Socrates calls together local people of
all races from their different social stations—lawyers, gangsters,
preachers, Buddhists, businessmen—to conduct meetings of a Thinkers’
Club, where all can discuss the unanswerable questions in life. The
street philosopher enjoins his friends to explore—even in the knowledge
that there’s nothing that they personally can do to change the ways of
the world—what might be done anyway, what it would take to change
themselves. Infiltrated by undercover cops, and threatened by strain
from within, tensions rise as hot-blooded gangsters and respectable
deacons fight over issues of personal and social responsibility. But
simply by asking questions about racial authenticity, street justice,
infidelity, poverty, and the possibility of mutual understanding,
Socrates and his unlikely crew actually begin to make a difference. In turns outraged and affectionate, The Right Mistake
offers a profoundly literary and ultimately redemptive exploration of
the possibility of moral action in a violent and fallen world.
L.A., Socrates Fortlow is a sixty-year-old ex-convict, still strong
enough to kill men with his bare hands. Now freed after serving
twenty-seven years in prison, he is filled with profound guilt about his
own crimes and disheartened by the chaos of the streets. Along with his
gambler friend Billy Psalms, Socrates calls together local people of
all races from their different social stations—lawyers, gangsters,
preachers, Buddhists, businessmen—to conduct meetings of a Thinkers’
Club, where all can discuss the unanswerable questions in life. The
street philosopher enjoins his friends to explore—even in the knowledge
that there’s nothing that they personally can do to change the ways of
the world—what might be done anyway, what it would take to change
themselves. Infiltrated by undercover cops, and threatened by strain
from within, tensions rise as hot-blooded gangsters and respectable
deacons fight over issues of personal and social responsibility. But
simply by asking questions about racial authenticity, street justice,
infidelity, poverty, and the possibility of mutual understanding,
Socrates and his unlikely crew actually begin to make a difference. In turns outraged and affectionate, The Right Mistake
offers a profoundly literary and ultimately redemptive exploration of
the possibility of moral action in a violent and fallen world.