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Summary
Summary
At 91 years old, Ptolemy Grey is one of the world's forgotten. Marooned in a cluttered Los Angeles apartment overflowing with mementos from his past, Ptolemy sinks deeper into lonely dementia and into a past that's best left buried. But everything changes when he meets Robyn at his grandnephew's funeral. Seventeen and without a family of her own, Robyn and Ptolemy form an unexpected bond that reinvigorates his world. Robyn will not tolerate the way he has allowed himself to live, and with her help, Ptolemy moves from isolation back into the brightness of friendship and desire. But as he recaptures the clarity of his fading mind, he also unlocks the secrets he has carried for decades.
Author Notes
Walter Mosley was born in Los Angeles, California on January 12, 1952. He graduated from Johnson State College in Vermont. His first book, Devil in a Blue Dress, was published in 1990, won a John Creasy Award for best first novel, and was made into a motion picture starring Denzel Washington in 1995. He is the author of the Easy Rawlins Mystery series, the Leonid McGill Mystery series, and the Fearless Jones series. His other works include Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, 47, Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, and Twelve Steps toward Political Revelation. He has received numerous awards, including an O. Henry Award, the Carl Brandon Society Parallax Award, and PEN America's Lifetime Achievement Award.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Mosley (Known to Evil) plays out an intriguing premise in his powerful latest: a man is given a second shot at life, but at the price of a hastened death. Ptolemy Grey is a 91-year-old man, suffering from dementia and living as a recluse in his Los Angeles apartment. With one foot in the past and the other in the grave, Ptolemy begins to open up when Robyn Small, a 17-year-old family friend, appears and helps clean up his apartment and straighten out his life. A reinvigorated Ptolemy volunteers for an experimental medical program that will restore his mind, but at hazardous cost: he won't live to see 92. With the clock ticking, Ptolemy uses his rejuvenated mental abilities to delve into the mystery of the recent drive-by shooting death of his great-nephew, Reggie, and to render justice the only way he knows how, goaded and guided by the memory of his murdered childhood mentor, Coydog McCann. Though the details of the experimental procedure are less than convincing, Mosley's depiction of the indignities of old age is heartbreaking, and Ptolemy's grace and decency make for a wonderful character and a moving novel. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Library Journal Review
Mosley's (www.waltermosley.com) latest work is a significant departure from his classic Easy Rawlins series (Devil in a Blue Dress). Ptolemy Grey, 91, lost in his memories and with every thought a terrible struggle, lives as a recluse in his filthy apartment. When a 17-year-old family friend moves in to help out, the pair find a doctor who will treat Grey's memory with an experimental drug, but it will hasten his demise, a cost that is acceptable to Grey. Actor/narrator Dominic Hoffman (dominichoffman.com) perfectly presents Grey's last days. A provocative, thoughtful novel that will leave listeners debating how they would behave under similar circumstances, this is sure to do well among Mosley's fans and would make a terrific book club listen. [The Riverhead hc was recommended for "Mosley's dedicated fans as well as comprehensive, contemporary American fiction collections," LJ 10/1/10.-Ed.]-Donna Bachowski, Orange Cty. Lib. Syst., Orlando, FL (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.