The Man in My Basement

A Novel

by Walter Mosley

Paperback, 272 pages

English language

Published Feb. 2, 2005 by Back Bay Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-316-15931-9

(5 reviews)

The man at Charles Blakey's door has a proposition almost too strange for words. He wants to spend the summer in Charles's basement, and Charles cannot even begin to guess why. The beautiful house has been in the Blakey family for generations, but Charles has just lost his job and is behind on his mortgage payments. The money would be welcome. But Charles Blakey is black and Anniston Bennet is white, and it is clear that the stranger wants more than a basement view. There is something deeper and darker about his request, and Charles does not need any more trouble. But financial necessity leaves him no choice. Once Anniston Bennet is installed in his basement, Charles is cast into a role he never dreamed of. Anniston has some very particular requests for his landlord, and try as he might, Charles cannot avoid being lured into Bennet's strange world. At first he resists, but soon he is tempted-tempted by the opportunity to understand the secret ways of white folks. Tempted to understand a set of codes that has always eluded him. Charles's summer with a man in his basement turns into an exploration of inconceivable worlds of power and manipulation, and unimagined realms of humanity. Walter Mosley pierces long-hidden veins of justice and morality with startling insight into the deepest mysteries of human nature.

5 editions

Erin reviewed The Man in My Basement by Walter Mosley

Review of 'The Man in My Basement' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Well, I found this book in a list of weird books, so it was weird. ;) It's hard for me to know what to rate it, but I went with 4 stars because I'll for sure remember it and be mulling it over.

My big "meh" for this book is the female characters, though I think I can see what he was doing. I get the sense that each woman had different expectations on Charles, and none of those expectations see him as the full person he is. But I was annoyed by the way each young woman was handled as a sex object or potential sex object. Relatedly, there's more than I wanted to hear about penises in the book. I attempted to read The Awkward Black Man which also quickly brought up a penis, so I wonder if this is a common theme with Mosley. I'm not especially interested in hearing about erections and size, but again, I wouldn't say it's pointless here. Masculinity and Black masculinity in particular are a theme.

The most interesting part of the story, and where I wish it focused, was this odd dynamic between Charles and Anniston. Why does Anniston want to do this? What kind of influence is he having on Charles? What are they representative of? I always feel a bit dumb when I read this kind of book because I think to myself, "what's going on is probably really obvious, but I'm too dense to get it." But Anniston seemed to embody White power and even White guilt - along with White "inability" to change anything. Anniston makes it all about himself. Charles seemed attracted to some aspects of Anniston - his power, his intelligence - against his will. Perhaps that's just a comment on how seductive power is.

It was weird, but I almost wish it was weirder.