Wed., November 2
Writer Walter Mosley

Writer Walter Mosley

Walter Mosley is here to talk about his latest novel, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey. Mosley’s protagonist, Ptolemy Grey, is an old, ailing recluse living in a dump of a cluttered apartment. His mind, on a downward spiral of dementia, is equally cluttered with a mashup of memories: the death of his wife, the lynching of a friend, his service in World War II. Then, everything changes when he’s offered a Faustian bargain—a drug that will restore his brain in exchange for a shorter life. He takes the plunge-- hoping mental clarity will help him solve a murder. Though Mosley may be best known for detective novels, his writing spans all genres: literary fiction, science fiction, crime and social commentary. In The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, Mosely uses threads from all of these styles to tell the story of mortality and morality.

Walter Mosley is in Boston thanks to PEN New England’s Vision Committee as part of their efforts to bridge and connect this region’s communities. He will be at Roxbury Community College’s Media Arts Center this evening at 6:30 pm for a reading and conversation moderated by Kim McLarin.