Fortunate Son: A Novel
Walter Mosley
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2006 Little, Brown & Co.
ISBN: 0316114715

Two boys are raised together yet look at life very differently..

One is white, healthy & handsome while the other is black, ill & ugly, yet in spite of their differences, they are as close as any brothers. Eric is a Nordic Adonis, graced with good fortune although cursed with a vile attitude which seems to suck the very life out of the people he loves. Tommy, on the other hand, was born with ill health yet graced with an enduring good nature.

When tragedy strikes their makeshift family, the lives of these boys diverge: the golden youth has everything & ends up trusting nothing & nobody; whereas the ill-fated one falls through the cracks of the children's protective services, & somehow feels lucky for every day of his life.

Eventually, as young men, the two get back together & face an enemy that will test their different natures, & ultimately save their lives.

Fortunate Son is a riveting, raw story of modern-day nurture & nature, addiction & mystery, resilience & redemption, & will stretch your mind about racism, privilege, contentment, fate & loyalty.

I classified this in Men's Books because it's all about the male psyche, no matter the skin color. Perhaps best known for his Easy Rawlins mysteries, Walter Mosley doesn't confine his writing to one genre, as you will see from the titles below:
Futureland
Life Out of Context
47 for Grades 7-10
The Wave Allegorical SF
The Man in My Basement: A Novel
Cinnamon Kiss: An Easy Rawlins Mystery
Fearless Jones & many more!
(03/26/06)

Rebecca