man in my basement

The Man in My Basement is a novel by Walter Mosley, an author best known for crime novels and historical fiction. This is neither of those things but there are influences from both genres. As to what genre this book actually is, I guess I’d call it Gothic. I’m reminded of Poe in the darker, introspective bits. But it’s also a wonderful portrait of a complicated man. 

Charles Dodd-Blakey lives alone in the family home somewhere in the Carolinas. His parents are gone, his job is gone, he doesn’t have a girlfriend and his only friends are beginning to slip away. It’s at that point that a would be boarder knocks on his door to ask about renting his basement for a few weeks during the summer.

Our man Charles is not all that wild about the idea, but the man who'd like to stay with him is rather insistent, and leaves Charles with an offer to consider, which may help to alleviate some of his pressing financial problems.

The struggles that Charles Dodd-Blakey works through in the weeks and months of summer are what make Man in My Basement worth reading. Mosley does a great job of taking us inside the mind-messy as it is--of his character.