By Elizabeth Cali
Walter Mosley is consistent. Search the Navigator Device for 21st-century novels, and it is impossible to overlook how frequently Mosley’s name comes up. I wondered, just in 21st century novel publications, how consistently Mosley published across the first two decades of this century. Did he have a strong entry into the new century and perhaps did his productivity wane some in the 2010s, or vice versa?
Thirty of Walter Mosley’s 21st-century novels were published in the 2000s and 2010s. It is striking that his novelistic output in the 2000s is equal to his novelistic output in the 2010s. 15 novels published in each of the first two decades of the 21st century.
Mosley stands out in part due to the significant number of novels he has published, but the consistency, the even-ness with which he has published in the first two decades of this century prompts further consideration. We might consider how many of those novels are part of the Easy Rawlins series or the Leonid McGill series, for which Mosley is known. Does authoring a series lend itself to greater productivity, for example? What about the novels that are not part of a series? Do these lead to significant departures in topics, themes, genre, or plot?
Such significant and consistent output allows readers to ask more pointed questions about the layers of both consistency and variation in theme, genre, protagonists, settings, and structure that take place within and across such a steady, remarkable output of imaginative writing. And, notably, the rarity in having such a volume of regular creative production from one author is that that when readers ask questions about Mosely’s storytelling and fiction writing patterns, trends, variations, and creative flights, they’ll have significant data to back up their answers.
Thirty of Walter Mosley’s 21st-century novels were published in the 2000s and 2010s. It is striking that his novelistic output in the 2000s is equal to his novelistic output in the 2010s. 15 novels published in each of the first two decades of the 21st century.
Mosley stands out in part due to the significant number of novels he has published, but the consistency, the even-ness with which he has published in the first two decades of this century prompts further consideration. We might consider how many of those novels are part of the Easy Rawlins series or the Leonid McGill series, for which Mosley is known. Does authoring a series lend itself to greater productivity, for example? What about the novels that are not part of a series? Do these lead to significant departures in topics, themes, genre, or plot?
Such significant and consistent output allows readers to ask more pointed questions about the layers of both consistency and variation in theme, genre, protagonists, settings, and structure that take place within and across such a steady, remarkable output of imaginative writing. And, notably, the rarity in having such a volume of regular creative production from one author is that that when readers ask questions about Mosely’s storytelling and fiction writing patterns, trends, variations, and creative flights, they’ll have significant data to back up their answers.
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