Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned

Walter Mosley · first published 1997 · ISBN 9780671014995

This collection of interconnected stories follows Socrates Fortlow, an older Black man living in South Los Angeles after his release from prison. Unlike the detective, Socrates is trying to live a quiet life of modest work and contemplation, but the city draws him into small confrontations and acts of mercy. The stories accumulate into a portrait of a man attempting dignity in a society that has discarded him.