The Right Mistake

From New York Times bestselling author Walter Mosley, the third collection of Socrates Fortlow tales, “a thought-provoking exploration of wickedness—and what’s to be done about it” (Seattle Times).

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. Filled with profound guilt about his own crimes and disheartened by the chaos of the streets, Socrates calls together local people of all races and social stations and begins to conduct a Thinkers’ Club, where all can discuss life’s unanswerable questions. Infiltrated by undercover cops and threatened by strain from within, the Thinkers’ Club doesn’t have it easy. But simply by debating racial authenticity, street justice, and the possibility of mutual understanding, Socrates and his unlikely crew actually begin to make a difference.

The Right Mistake is Walter Mosley at his most incisive. In turns outraged and affectionate, it offers a profoundly literary and ultimately redemptive exploration of the possibility of moral action in a violent world.

• "I can’t stop thinking about it ... I’ll now be reading all of Mosley’s novels. And maybe even giving them out to people."
  John McWhorter, New York Times
• "A thought-provoking exploration of wickedness--and what's to be done about it."
  Seattle Times
• "Walter Mosley is a literary artist as well as a master of mystery."
  New York Times Book Review