I had spent five years with white men, and women, from Africa to Italy, through Paris, and into the Fatherland itself. When he looked at me I felt a thrill of fear, but that went away quickly because I was used to white people by 1948. He stopped in the doorway, filling it with his large frame, and surveyed the room with pale eyes not a color I’d ever seen in a man’s eyes. One lick of strawberry-blond hair escaped the band of his hat. His skin was smooth and pale with just a few freckles. It’s not just that he was white but he wore an off-white linen suit and shirt with a Panama straw hat and bone shoes over flashing white silk socks. I was surprised to see a white man walk into Joppy’s bar. To give you a taste of the novel, here’s its first chapter:

And if you haven’t signed up for the California Book Club, you can do so for free here. You can buy a copy of Devil in a Blue Dress here. Above all, the book is a delight to read. Its wealth of details and its crisp, slang-infused dialogue richly evoke the postwar African American experience. The novel, the first of many titles in a series of Rawlins detective stories, offers readers a window into Black life and culture in Los Angeles that was, until its publication, rarely depicted in mainstream fiction. “But also just a deep thinker about Black life in Los Angeles, about California, about growing up the son of a Jewish mother and a Black father.”įor those who haven’t read Mosley’s first book-or seen Carl Franklin’s movie adaptation starring Denzel Washington- Devil in a Blue Dress relates the urban adventures of a World War II veteran who stumbles into a career as a private detective. “He’s a wonderful talker and a hilarious raconteur,” Freeman said about Mosley in an Alta Asks Live conversation. He’ll talk about his beloved 1990 book with host John Freeman, and he’ll take questions from book club members. The author will take part in the club’s third virtual gathering, on December 17. Members of Alta’s California Book Club now have the chance to dive into the novel-with Mosley himself as their guide.

Haven’t read Devil in a Blue Dress? Or maybe you have but want to revisit it? With that grabber of a first sentence, Walter Mosley introduced readers the world over to his indelible character Easy Rawlins. “I was surprised to see a white man walk into Joppy’s bar.”

Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley