John Woman, Walter Mosley
John Woman, Walter Mosley
1 Rating(s)
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John Woman

Author: Walter Mosley

Narrator: Dion Graham

Unabridged: 10 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/04/2018


Synopsis

A convention-defying novel by bestselling writer Walter Mosley, John Woman recounts the transformation of an unassuming boy named Cornelius Jones into John Woman, an unconventional history professor―while the legacy of a hideous crime lurks in the shadows.At twelve years old, Cornelius, the son of an Italian-American woman and an older black man from Mississippi named Herman, secretly takes over his father’s job at a silent film theater in New York’s East Village. Five years later, as Herman lives out his last days, he shares his wisdom with his son, explaining that the person who controls the narrative of history controls their own fate.After his father dies and his mother disappears, Cornelius sets about reinventing himself―as Professor John Woman, a man who will spread Herman’s teachings into the classrooms of his unorthodox southwestern university and beyond. But there are other individuals who are attempting to influence the narrative of John Woman and who might know something about the facts of his hidden past.Engaging with some of the most provocative ideas of recent intellectual history, John Woman is a compulsively readable, deliciously unexpected novel about the way we tell stories and whether the stories we tell have the power to change the world.

About Walter Mosley

Walter Mosley is one of America's most celebrated and beloved writers. A Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America, he has won numerous awards, including the Anisfield-Wolf Award, a Grammy, a PEN USA's Lifetime Achievement Award, and several NAACP Image Awards. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. His short fiction has appeared in a wide array of publications, including The New Yorker, GQ, Esquire, Los Angeles Times Magazine, and Playboy, and his nonfiction has been published in The New York Times Book ReviewThe New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, and The Nation. He is the author of Down the River unto the Sea. He lives in New York City.

About Dion Graham

Dion Graham, from HBO’s The Wire, also narrates The First 48 on A&E. A multiple Audie Award–winning narrator and critically acclaimed actor, he has performed on Broadway, off Broadway, internationally, in films, and in several hit television series.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Andrew on May 06, 2020

I'd previously read a couple of Mosley’s books (Cinnamon Kiss and Down the River Unto the Sea) and though I’d appreciated the prose I didn't really enjoy the way in which the stories were stitched together. But I knew the man could write and I’d read enough about this book to know that this was a de......more

Goodreads review by Lark on January 03, 2021

This is one of the most deeply aggravating novels I've ever read. The characters are unbelievable, the story line ridiculous, the action implausible, the relationships between men and women misogynistic and frequently repulsive. The hoped-for scenes of denouement come and go without resolution: afte......more

Ah, another book by Walter Mosley. If you are familiar with Mosley from his Easy Rawlins series, this may not be a satisfying read for you. If you are familiar with Mosley from his Leonid McGill series, it might be an easier transition. Mosley has given his readers many facets of the plight of the po......more

Goodreads review by Deb on November 01, 2018

I've read several of Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins titles and have enjoyed them all, but there is something special about his most recent offering "John Woman." As always, Mosley's characters are fully filled out with strengths and weaknesses that allow them to be believable and achievable. Men and wo......more

Goodreads review by Andre on September 05, 2018

A most unorthodox novel from Walter Mosley. But as the master he is, Mosley is able to write across genres without any falloff from his usual focus. You the reader, may never think the same way about the subject of history and its convention as useful and practical for study. Mosley delights with Jo......more


Quotes

“Dion Graham expressively narrates this mind-bending…metafiction that asks questions about the relationship between history and who is telling its stories, and Graham’s outstanding narration captures its continually shifting tones…[A] dark, riveting audiobook.” AudioFile

“An intellectual romp by the renowned mystery writer.” O, The Oprah Magazine

“A smart sly novel of ideas…Defying genre, Mosley’s latest novel is much like his eponymous hero: speculative, brilliant and wildly original.” National Book Review

“Seamlessly combines elements of dystopian thrillers, psychological crime, philosophical fiction, and straightforward melodrama. His rich, earthy prose burrows through complex abstract ideas and suspenseful plot twists with equal utility.” AV Club

“This fantastic, surprising, humane, and somewhat perverse book is one of Mosley’s best.” BookPage

“Highly recommended for all smart readers.” Library Journal (starred review)

“Mosley is at his commanding, comfort-zone-blasting best in this heady tale of a fugitive genius….[with] arresting insights into race, freedom, power, and the stories we tell to try to make sense of the ceaseless torrent of human conflict and desire.” Booklist (starred review)

“Fast paced but still full of provocative questions about society, the story grounds the wilder aspects of its plot by providing a fascinating cast of endearing characters…An unpredictable, unabashedly strange good time.” Publishers Weekly

“Taut, riveting, and artfully edgy…Somehow, it makes sense that when Walter Mosley puts forth a novel of ideas, it arrives with the unexpected force of a left hook and the metallic gleam of a new firearm.” Kirkus Reviews


Awards

  • Booklist Pick
  • Oprah’s Book Club Selection