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Easy Rawlins #6
Gone Fishin'
It’s 1939 and Easy and Mouse are young men just setting out in life—Easy has yet to develop his skill for unraveling the secrets of others, and Mouse has yet to kill his first man. But all that will soon change.
In the beginning there was Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins and Raymond "Mouse" Alexander, two young men setting out in life, hitting the road in a "borrowed" '36 Ford headed for Pariah, Texas. The volatile Mouse wants to retrieve money from his stepfather so he can marry his Etta Mae.
But on their steamy bayou excursion, Mouse will choose murder as a way out, while Easy's past liaison with Etta Mae floats precariously in his memory. Easy and Mouse are coming of age and everything they ever knew about friendship and about themselves is coming apart at the seams.
As Mosley takes Easy and Mouse on this journey to manhood, he weaves together a remarkable cast of friends and foes, who are introduced here for the first time and will later appear in Easy Rawlins mysteries. This is the chance to unravel the mystery behind the souls of every character.
In the beginning there was Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins and Raymond "Mouse" Alexander, two young men setting out in life, hitting the road in a "borrowed" '36 Ford headed for Pariah, Texas. The volatile Mouse wants to retrieve money from his stepfather so he can marry his Etta Mae.
But on their steamy bayou excursion, Mouse will choose murder as a way out, while Easy's past liaison with Etta Mae floats precariously in his memory. Easy and Mouse are coming of age and everything they ever knew about friendship and about themselves is coming apart at the seams.
As Mosley takes Easy and Mouse on this journey to manhood, he weaves together a remarkable cast of friends and foes, who are introduced here for the first time and will later appear in Easy Rawlins mysteries. This is the chance to unravel the mystery behind the souls of every character.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
About the author
Walter Mosley
186 books4,136 followersWalter Mosley (b. 1952) is the author of the bestselling mystery series featuring Easy Rawlins, as well as numerous other works, from literary fiction and science fiction to a young adult novel and political monographs. His short fiction has been widely published, and his nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times Magazine and the Nation, among other publications. Mosley is the winner of numerous awards, including an O. Henry Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, a Grammy, and PEN America’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 248 reviews
March 22, 2018
4 stars.
This is my first Easy Rawlins book. It takes place in 1939, when Easy is only 19. It opens in Houston, Texas, when Easy's friend Mouse asks Easy to drive Mouse to Pariah, Texas. Mouse is about to get married to Etta. He decides to go to Pariah and demand money from his stepfather Reese. This is a coming of age story with deaths that cause Easy to drink himself almost to death. Mouse teaches Easy his unique way of fishing on the trip.
I have been reading rave reviews of the Easy Rawlins series for years and enjoyed this one, although it was depressing, because of the poverty and racism depicted so graphically in the book. It was a library book.
This is my first Easy Rawlins book. It takes place in 1939, when Easy is only 19. It opens in Houston, Texas, when Easy's friend Mouse asks Easy to drive Mouse to Pariah, Texas. Mouse is about to get married to Etta. He decides to go to Pariah and demand money from his stepfather Reese. This is a coming of age story with deaths that cause Easy to drink himself almost to death. Mouse teaches Easy his unique way of fishing on the trip.
I have been reading rave reviews of the Easy Rawlins series for years and enjoyed this one, although it was depressing, because of the poverty and racism depicted so graphically in the book. It was a library book.
October 15, 2024
Review to come.
November 3, 2023
At the end of volume #5 of Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins series, A Little Yellow Dog, it is up in the air whether his best friend, Mouse, is still alive. So when you open up number 6, Gone Fishin’, you expect to get an answer to this question. But Mosley is no ordinary crime writer, giving us the comfortable and expected thing. The last book was set in 1963, concluding with Mouse getting shot at about the same time JFK is murdered.
Gone Fishin’ is set in 1939 and takes place not in LA but takes Mouse and Easy from Houston to Pariah, Texas so Mouse can marry Etta Mae. Mouse needs to get money from his step-father to accomplish this task, and in the process gets involved in murder, and swindling. And you know, Easy has a past with Etta Mae that could affect this friendship with Mouse. We meet other folks who we later meet in LA, and you get some background on why relationships with Easy always seem like two-edged swords.
So it’s a kind of (short) prequel, not so much a mystery as it is a coming-of-age novel.
We are not in LA anymore, but in the Deep South, with wild women and preachers and lots of dangerous characters. The beginnings of the loss of innocence for our Easy, He calls this struggle “my real war,” which he goes through before fighting in the white man’s war, WWII.
I was initially confused by it as it seemed as if the title had something to do with Mosley himself taking a break from the series, but you know, there is a little fishin in it, and I love the dialogue, the feel of the South that differs so much from LA, and the deepening of the series you get from this volume. Such a good writer!
And one treat here is that the great actor Paul Winfield reads this book, interspersed by some great southern blues songs. The first three books were read very well by Michael Boatman, and then one book was read by a reader almost universally reviled for how bad he was, but Winfield is terrific. This overall production was the best so far.
Taj Mahal: Gone Fishin':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQC2_...
Gone Fishin’ is set in 1939 and takes place not in LA but takes Mouse and Easy from Houston to Pariah, Texas so Mouse can marry Etta Mae. Mouse needs to get money from his step-father to accomplish this task, and in the process gets involved in murder, and swindling. And you know, Easy has a past with Etta Mae that could affect this friendship with Mouse. We meet other folks who we later meet in LA, and you get some background on why relationships with Easy always seem like two-edged swords.
So it’s a kind of (short) prequel, not so much a mystery as it is a coming-of-age novel.
We are not in LA anymore, but in the Deep South, with wild women and preachers and lots of dangerous characters. The beginnings of the loss of innocence for our Easy, He calls this struggle “my real war,” which he goes through before fighting in the white man’s war, WWII.
I was initially confused by it as it seemed as if the title had something to do with Mosley himself taking a break from the series, but you know, there is a little fishin in it, and I love the dialogue, the feel of the South that differs so much from LA, and the deepening of the series you get from this volume. Such a good writer!
And one treat here is that the great actor Paul Winfield reads this book, interspersed by some great southern blues songs. The first three books were read very well by Michael Boatman, and then one book was read by a reader almost universally reviled for how bad he was, but Winfield is terrific. This overall production was the best so far.
Taj Mahal: Gone Fishin':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQC2_...
September 14, 2023
Smiles hide guns and trust is born of blood as a young Easy Rawlins embarks on a perilous road trip with Mouse that firmly slams the door on the lives they previously led. Darkly haunting with expertly mixed doses of hope and despair, Gone Fishin' was quite a fantastic read. Bravo Mr Mosley. Bravo.
Four Illuminated Stars
Four Illuminated Stars
June 20, 2020
This was not one of my favorite books in the series. At times i was lost and actually bored but i am determined to complete the series so off i go to the next book. Easy will always be my character crush❤
March 13, 2024
I was afraid to sleep; afraid because I had seen death in a way where it was real for me and I worried that I'd never wake up.
Rather than pick up where the fifth installment left off, the sixth book in the Easy Rawlins series tells the story of Easy and Mouse as young men in south Texas in 1939, before Mouse married Etta Mae and before Easy joined the US Army and served in WWII. Not a traditional Mystery/Crime novel like the prior volumes in the series, this story is about a road trip Easy and Mouse take to a small town where Mouse confronts his stepfather and his own past and, as a result, Easy's life - and his friendship with Mouse - changes forever. Mosley's unhurried prose and his life-like characters always make his stories a pleasure to read and this one is no exception.
Rather than pick up where the fifth installment left off, the sixth book in the Easy Rawlins series tells the story of Easy and Mouse as young men in south Texas in 1939, before Mouse married Etta Mae and before Easy joined the US Army and served in WWII. Not a traditional Mystery/Crime novel like the prior volumes in the series, this story is about a road trip Easy and Mouse take to a small town where Mouse confronts his stepfather and his own past and, as a result, Easy's life - and his friendship with Mouse - changes forever. Mosley's unhurried prose and his life-like characters always make his stories a pleasure to read and this one is no exception.
May 6, 2012
Six books in to the history of Ezekial Rawlins we are treated to his origin story, a spontaneous road trip with his violent friend Raymond Alexander to ask his step-daddy for some money for his wedding.
What Mosley has done with this book is throw away the crime and mystery plotting and concentrate on the coming of age nature of the journey, there's much greater focus on what it meant to be a young black man in 1939 Texas, and as such it's a fascinating addition to the series that focuses on what Mosley does best.
What Mosley has done with this book is throw away the crime and mystery plotting and concentrate on the coming of age nature of the journey, there's much greater focus on what it meant to be a young black man in 1939 Texas, and as such it's a fascinating addition to the series that focuses on what Mosley does best.
October 22, 2021
This book was a short backstory of Easy and Mouse. I enjoyed learning more about the early lives of the two main characters. For me it further enriched the universe of Mouse and Easy, and added to my understanding of their lives.
February 14, 2019
I didn't enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed the previous books in this series. Perhaps some of that came from me not reading the back of the book and getting the important information that this book was a prequel of sorts. As it was, it wasn't until nearly halfway that I realized that something was off. At the beginning, I wondered where Easy's kids were and why everything had turned so sour for him, but abrupt status quo changes aren't unheard of in this series, as time jumps in between books is the de rigueur for this series. Still, one of the things I enjoy most about this series is watching the evolution of Easy and his family and this was Easy without any of that growth.
July 13, 2017
Interesting novel about Easy and Mouse...A search for meaning in this big old life!
September 21, 2017
Having read'Red Death', 'Devil In A Blue Dress' and 'White Butterfly' over fifteen years ago (!), I have always found Mosly's character portrayals of Mouse and Easy interesting, warmly familiar and nuanced. I've also always wanted to know how Mouse became so 'trigger-happy', quixotic and playful, while Easy somewhat a smooth operator, but with a lot on his mind. Mouse always seemed like a time-bomb, ticking and waiting for the right 'trigger' to set him off. What was the 'loyalty' angle that Mouse and Easy had in previous novels--where did it come from? I'd read on Amazon that this was the novel that starts it all---or rather, starts Easy's 'journey' into the 'noir 'world of culpability, secrets, forbidden lusts, comeuppance----the world he finds himself most comfortable in. The novel is short, compact and concentrated, focusing on only the essences of situations, and not spelling out too much unnecessary detail. Helping characters and flat characters do just that--help us get a better picture of the situation, no more, no less. Sparse descriptions help the reader 'fill out' and 'round out' what could be perceived as loopholes in the plot, as well as they help the reader to use her own imagination to feel the 'hot, sticky, oppression' and the forbidden mystic voodoo of the bayou environment. My only pet peeve of this compact little novella was the leitmotif of Easy's illness. It annoyed me that it played such an integral roll in seaming together time sequences and certain occurances in the novel. I felt Mosly 'took the easy (Pardon the pun, here:-)) way out' here, instead of trying to find other motivations for what his character does and how things are resolved. There had to have been other ways to do this...however, I am not a writer, so I can't really go too deeply in that criticism. To sum up, I thought 'Gone Fishin''s length and its literary style suited what needed to be revealed about Easy and Mouse, it recounted essences of their characters and how they came to be the men who they are in the rest of the series. A sweaty, hot and funky 'kick-off' to reading yet another Rawlins mystery. 'A Little Yellow Dog' awaits.
June 19, 2018
3 1/2 stars
Although this isn't my favorite in the Easy Rawlins series, it did provide an interesting look into the strained and unique connection between Easy, Mouse, and even Etta Mae. It was good to have more background about what makes Easy such a complicated character. But I am looking forward to moving on with a 'real' Easy story!
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Although this isn't my favorite in the Easy Rawlins series, it did provide an interesting look into the strained and unique connection between Easy, Mouse, and even Etta Mae. It was good to have more background about what makes Easy such a complicated character. But I am looking forward to moving on with a 'real' Easy story!
You can find me at:
•(♥).•*Monlatable Book Reviews*•.(♥)•
Twitter: @MonlatReader
Instagram: @readermonica
Facebook: Monica Reeds
Goodreads Group: The Black Bookcase
December 17, 2016
2 stars and this is because I thought the narrator did a great job. He had a great voice that I could listen to all day.
This just wasn't my kind of book. I thought the author painted his characters well enough, but this could have been more detailed. I liked his attention to emotion and actions, it is the everything else that made this 2 stars. The story itself moved really fast. I usually like that, I needed more to get a feel of place and relationships.
This just wasn't my kind of book. I thought the author painted his characters well enough, but this could have been more detailed. I liked his attention to emotion and actions, it is the everything else that made this 2 stars. The story itself moved really fast. I usually like that, I needed more to get a feel of place and relationships.
July 31, 2025
Mosley takes us on a little journey in to the past on the this one (more past than usual for Easy) to a point where a very young Easy Rawlins and Raymond "Mouse" Alexander are still living in the Fifth Ward of Houston. Mouse is engaged to EttaMae and takes Easy along with him to get money that he believes is owed to him by his Step-Father. This is a pivotal point in both men's lives and it's been hinted at up to now in the previous novels. It's a turning point in Mouse's evolution in to a stone-cold killer. And we find it's a turning point for Easy as it's this journey that gets him to leave Houston, to want to learn to read and, while he will remain Mouse's friend, to realize that he cannot trust Mouse to have his interests at heart...or to even keep from killing him if Mouse thinks it's necessary.
There's no mystery here. It's a coming-of-age tale that draws together a number of threads we had seen in the characters past to build a better understanding of them. Usually not the kind of thing I'm super fond of, but Mosley pulls it off well.
There's no mystery here. It's a coming-of-age tale that draws together a number of threads we had seen in the characters past to build a better understanding of them. Usually not the kind of thing I'm super fond of, but Mosley pulls it off well.
May 12, 2021
Es el sexto libro de la serie aunque en realidad es el primero. Me ha parecido bastante diferente a los anteriores con una trama muy simple que a veces parece pararse y con bastantes menos personajes de lo habitual .Es como un flashback que aclara aspectos de la historia personal de Easy y Mouse y hay que leerle para entenderles mejor y , sobre todo,porque está bien escrito con frases muy profundas y poéticas , aunque es un libro “extraño” dentro de la serie, un poco repetitivo y con muchas páginas de relleno y con un final tan precipitado que da la sensación de que faltan páginas.
March 22, 2022
This is one of three books from this series I picked up based on reviews from another person... seemed like my kind of series.
This one is a bit of a prequel/origin story, so I started out with this one. It's not really a mystery as much as a snapshot of the life of poor African Americans in the deep south before WW II. It also serves as somewhat of an origin story for Easy and Mouse (mostly Mouse, really).
I was concerned that I might not be able to get into it since it's not actually the start of the series, but that was not the case at all. Mosley really writes realistic seeming people... I feel like I know them now, and was really invested in what happened.
I hope this doesn't turn one of those series where the author just tortured the main character over and over again.. but then again, based on the setting, there's not alot of room for happiness, so we'll see. I'll definitely be reading the other two I got soon.
This one is a bit of a prequel/origin story, so I started out with this one. It's not really a mystery as much as a snapshot of the life of poor African Americans in the deep south before WW II. It also serves as somewhat of an origin story for Easy and Mouse (mostly Mouse, really).
I was concerned that I might not be able to get into it since it's not actually the start of the series, but that was not the case at all. Mosley really writes realistic seeming people... I feel like I know them now, and was really invested in what happened.
I hope this doesn't turn one of those series where the author just tortured the main character over and over again.. but then again, based on the setting, there's not alot of room for happiness, so we'll see. I'll definitely be reading the other two I got soon.
July 6, 2016
This story was just a flashback, it was the story that we had only heard pieces of in the previous books, and I was sort of surprised it wasn't more exciting.
It was still a fast read and it gave us a look at both Mouse and Easy when they were just hitting grown men status. Easy, being 19 was dealing with not only having some kind of stomach flu, he was also dealing with the guilt of being involved in this murder and dealing with the fact that his own father had run off on him as a child and looking back and seeing Mouse with his daddy, really put somethings into perspective for him.
In Pariah, Easy meet with some crazy characters, but it has changed him. They have given him the motivation to learn how to read and write and to do better in this world.
Solid 3 star book.
It was still a fast read and it gave us a look at both Mouse and Easy when they were just hitting grown men status. Easy, being 19 was dealing with not only having some kind of stomach flu, he was also dealing with the guilt of being involved in this murder and dealing with the fact that his own father had run off on him as a child and looking back and seeing Mouse with his daddy, really put somethings into perspective for him.
In Pariah, Easy meet with some crazy characters, but it has changed him. They have given him the motivation to learn how to read and write and to do better in this world.
Solid 3 star book.
April 24, 2020
I jumped into this series about five books in as this was a pass-it-on from a friend. (Hey Robert, did you know it is a signed, first-edition?) Not only is Walter Mosley an amazing writer and story teller, this happens to be the prequel to the whole series, so now I need to go back and read the Easy Rawlins series in order. This book, which takes place before World War II, sets up many of the whys of Easy and his buddy Mouse’s relationship as they are entering manhood. Set in the rural south, these two young black men are dealing with who they are, their often conflicting values, and how they are going to move into and through a very racially charged world. Looking forward to the first in the series, Devil in a Blue Dress.
March 21, 2015
This book depicts the beginning of the character Easy Rawlins. It is not written with the same suspense and flair of the author's previous novels. In this story Easy Rawlins is young and impressionable and has a lot of growing to do. But, what makes this novel special is the introduction to voodoo. This is prevalent in the south and takes a hold of the reader. It was hard to understand the spoken word sometimes because the author, Walter Mosley, wanted the reader to feel the flavor of the dialect. As I read the story, I felt I already knew the end. Walter Mosley can do better.
January 1, 2016
Easy's Coming of age story. More literary genre than crime.
December 8, 2024
Although this is usually listed as #6 in Walter Mosely's wonderful Easy Rawlins series, it's set in 1939 in Texas a few years before Easy’s departure for WWII and long before his life as a detective in Los Angeles.
Instead of being a typical detective story with a grisly murder to solve, missing persons to find and all sorts of plot twists and turns this is a chance to get to know 19 year old Easy and learn a little about his back story , including how he got to know his dangerously violent but loyal friend, Raymond Alexander (A.K.A. Mouse.) Mosely also introduces us to some of the other characters who will show up from time to time over the course of Easy's career. Most notably, the earthy and enthralling voodoo witch, Mama Jo, who lives deep in the swamp with her collection of dried herbs and the skull of her former husband on the mantle!
For anyone who loves Easy Rawlins this is a book not to be missed!
Instead of being a typical detective story with a grisly murder to solve, missing persons to find and all sorts of plot twists and turns this is a chance to get to know 19 year old Easy and learn a little about his back story , including how he got to know his dangerously violent but loyal friend, Raymond Alexander (A.K.A. Mouse.) Mosely also introduces us to some of the other characters who will show up from time to time over the course of Easy's career. Most notably, the earthy and enthralling voodoo witch, Mama Jo, who lives deep in the swamp with her collection of dried herbs and the skull of her former husband on the mantle!
For anyone who loves Easy Rawlins this is a book not to be missed!
February 16, 2025
Please note that I'm reviewing the audiobook narrated by Paul Winfield. He just didn't do the book or the characters justice. Fortunately, I had listened to several Easy Rawlins books narrated by Michael Boatman so Easy, Mouse, Etta May, and all the other characters are already well-defined in my memory. So now I'll either read the Easy Rawlins books in print, hearing Michael Boatman in my head, or I'll only listen to his recordings of the books.
November 25, 2025
A short but emotional prequel in the series which provides much wanted back story on Mouse and Easy's relationship pre LA. As an English teacher, an especially notable moment was when Easy decided to learn to read. I can't wait to hear more of the powerful Momma Jo (I peeked and she's a reocurring character). Onto the next...
May 27, 2026
Definitely not as good as any of the earlier novels in this series. In this one there is no real mystery to be solved; it is a study of characters who have for the most part appear in earlier Easy Rawlins novels). This one, though, never really went anywhere. I guess that what is meant by "gone fishin'". There's really nothing more I can say.
July 2, 2018
Interesante historia donde un chico de buen corazón se inicia en el crimen con un amigo mayor que es malvado y violento. Hay negros pobres, pantanos y brujería. Hay policías blancos. Las chicas negras son sometidas desde pequeñas.
November 24, 2017
Good back story
November 14, 2022
2.5 stars.
December 8, 2022
There's no mystery to this one but it's a hell of a story.
August 21, 2018
Occurring in 1939 and prior to Easy and Mouse's adventures that began with Devil In a Blue Dress, Gone Fishing has the reader going on a road trip with the guys to Mouse's hometown, Houston, TX.
Mouse has plans to get some wedding money from his stepfather Reese. The only problem is Reese didn't invite Mouse and doesn't plan on giving Mouse one cent. If you know Mouse, then you know IT'S ON!
Throw in some hitchhikers on the run, a hunchback and a voodoo woman, what could possibly go wrong? This was my 5th Easy Rawlins novel and so far, my favorite.
Mouse has plans to get some wedding money from his stepfather Reese. The only problem is Reese didn't invite Mouse and doesn't plan on giving Mouse one cent. If you know Mouse, then you know IT'S ON!
Throw in some hitchhikers on the run, a hunchback and a voodoo woman, what could possibly go wrong? This was my 5th Easy Rawlins novel and so far, my favorite.
Read
November 15, 2013Walter Mosely’s character, Easy Rawlins, is hands-down, my favorite fictional character. I’ve read a bunch of the Easy Rawlins novels (Black Betty, Devil in a Blue Dress, Little Scarlet, and A Little Yellow Dog) but came upon “Gone Fishin’” afterwards. So it surprised me to find that this is a pre-quill to many of the aforementioned titles. Ezekiel (Easy) isn’t in Watts where most of the action in the other novels takes place. Instead, he’s a teenager in Texas where he and his lifelong buddy, Raymond (Mouse), were raised before migrating out west. In this novel, we see how Mouse begins his life in and out of crime; that continues out west in the later novels. We also meet a dominating voodoo witch character (Momma Jo) who protects Easy, heals Easy when he’s wounded, makes crazy love to Easy, and teaches Easy valuable life lessons. Mosely has this ability to stretch characters to seem larger-than-life in the midst of country, backwoods, urban, or ghetto backdrops. Mouse becomes larger-than-life in some of the later novels. But in this one the Momma Jo character steals it for me. I envisioned a larger-than-life voodoo Amazon with sex oozing out of every pore. Hot, hot, hot!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 248 reviews