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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Easy Does It, Again!, 16 Sep 2004
Easy Rawlins is the most unique protagonist in the mystery genre. He is always trying to get ahead without drawing unfavorable attention to himself. Whenever he seems to be making progress, crime and violence dog his footsteps . . . soon bringing the LAPD behind them to hassle him. If this sounds familiar, there is a good chance that Jean Valjean of Les Miserables is the real inspiration for Easy Rawlins.
Having grown up in Southern California at the time Mosley is writing about, I am very impressed with his ear for language and his eye for detail about those time. In A Little Yellow Dog, Easy has moved into the 1960s and is operating closer to the legal side than ever before. He soon finds himself surrounded by corpses, accusations, and the potential to lose his job, his children, and his freedom. Faced with those terrible consequences, he returns to his old friends for help in unraveling a satisfying mystery. Clearly, part of the appeal of this book is that Easy's vantage point on America is different from that of most readers. He is a black man with community connections to those who bend and break the law, yet he is a good man. How he will resolve the conflicts that inevitably occur due to his personal values, commitments to others, and the racisim of his society provides a satisfying look at the true nobility of man. That's what takes this book well beyond the normal well-written mystery. I liked the way that Easy developed as a person in this novel, bridging the gap between his aspirations and his former life. This provides more interesting plot twists, character development, and a chance to revisit characters who worked well in the earlier novels. A Little Yellow Dog is a top-notch successor to the earlier books in the Easy Rawlins series. Don't miss it!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Easy Does It, Again!, 16 Sep 2004
Easy Rawlins is the most unique protagonist in the mystery genre. He is always trying to get ahead without drawing unfavorable attention to himself. Whenever he seems to be making progress, crime and violence dog his footsteps . . . soon bringing the LAPD behind them to hassle him. If this sounds familiar, there is a good chance that Jean Valjean of Les Miserables is the real inspiration for Easy Rawlins.
Having grown up in Southern California at the time Mosley is writing about, I am very impressed with his ear for language and his eye for detail about those time. In A Little Yellow Dog, Easy has moved into the 1960s and is operating closer to the legal side than ever before. He soon finds himself surrounded by corpses, accusations, and the potential to lose his job, his children, and his freedom. Faced with those terrible consequences, he returns to his old friends for help in unraveling a satisfying mystery. Clearly, part of the appeal of this book is that Easy's vantage point on America is different from that of most readers. He is a black man with community connections to those who bend and break the law, yet he is a good man. How he will resolve the conflicts that inevitably occur due to his personal values, commitments to others, and the racisim of his society provides a satisfying look at the true nobility of man. That's what takes this book well beyond the normal well-written mystery. I liked the way that Easy developed as a person in this novel, bridging the gap between his aspirations and his former life. This provides more interesting plot twists, character development, and a chance to revisit characters who worked well in the earlier novels. A Little Yellow Dog is a top-notch successor to the earlier books in the Easy Rawlins series. Don't miss it!
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Easy Does It,, Again!, 28 May 2004
Easy Rawlins is the most unique protagonist in the mystery genre. He is always trying to get ahead without drawing unfavorable attention to himself. Whenever he seems to be making progress, crime and violence dog his footsteps . . . soon bringing the LAPD behind them to hassle him. If this sounds familiar, there is a good chance that Jean Valjean of Les Miserables is the real inspiration for Easy Rawlins.Having grown up in Southern California at the time Mosley is writing about, I am very impressed with his ear for language and his eye for detail about those time. In A Little Yellow Dog, Easy has moved into the 1960s and is operating closer to the legal side than ever before. He soon finds himself surrounded by corpses, accusations, and the potential to lose his job, his children, and his freedom. Faced with those terrible consequences, he returns to his old friends for help in unraveling a satisfying mystery. Clearly, part of the appeal of this book is that Easy's vantage point on America is different from that of most readers. He is a black man with community connections to those who bend and break the law, yet he is a good man. How he will resolve the conflicts that inevitably occur due to his personal values, his commitments to others, and the racisim of his society provides a satisfying look at the true nobility of man. That's what takes this book well beyond the normal well-written mystery. I liked the way that Easy developed as a person in this novel, bridging the gap between his aspirations and his former life. This provides more interesting plot twists, character development, and a chance to revisit characters who worked well in the earlier novels. A Little Yellow Dog is a top-notch successor to the earlier books in the Easy Rawlins series. Don't miss it!
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by Walter Mosley
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