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R L'S Dream

Walter Mosley

From New York Times bestselling author Walter Mosley, this life-affirming novel about an aging bluesman in New York City and the neighbor who takes him in after he’s evicted is “a mesmerizing and redemptive tale of friendship, love, and forgiveness” (San Francisco Review of Books).

Soupspoon Wise is alone and dying of cancer on the unforgiving streets of New York City, years and worlds away from the Mississippi delta, where he once jammed with blues legend Robert "RL" Johnson. It was an experience that burned indelibly into Soupspoon's soul—never mind that they said RL's gift came from the Devil himself. Now it's Soupspoon's turn to strike a deal with a stranger. A hard-drinking, swearing redhead from Arkansas, neighbor Kiki Waters isn't much better off than Soupspoon, but she too is a child of the South, and knows its pull. And she is determined to let Soupspoon ride out the final notes of his haunting blues dream, to pour out the remarkable tale of what he's seen, where he's been—and where he's going. Mosley creates a “a meditation on the history and meaning of the blues” (Entertainment Weekly) in R L’s Dream, which practically sings a soulful blues song itself.

GenresFictionLiteraryAfrican American & BlackMystery & Detective

272 pages, 2 editions

English edition · First published 1996 by Atria Books · ISBN 9780671884284

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Editions

2 editions

English

  • R L'S Dream · Atria Books · 1996 · ISBN 9780671884284 This page
  • R L'S Dream · Simon & Schuster · 2010 · ISBN 9781451612516

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