Walter Mosley, Equal Opportunity

Patrick Chura (University of Akron)

Ed. by Patrick Chura, University of Akron
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.5: African American Writing and Culture of the United States.
Vol. editors: Philathia Bolton (University of Akron), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), A Yemisi Jimoh (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1998

Places

United States (Country of Origin; Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Story

Resources

“Equal Opportunity” first appeared in 1997 in Walter Mosley’s critically acclaimed story cycle, Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned. Since then, it has frequently been reprinted and anthologized. The story’s events also comprise a central plot element of the 1998 film version of Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, starring Laurence Fishburne and directed by Michael Apted.

Mosley’s protagonist, Socrates Fortlow, is a 58-year-old ex-convict who is “starting life over again” after twenty-seven years of hard prison time for rape and murder. Eight years after his release from an Indiana penitentiary, Socrates is barely subsisting on the margins of South Central …

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1687 words

Citation: Chura, Patrick. "Equal Opportunity". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 March 2022 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=40538, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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