That was back before the war, before every farmer, and his brother’s wife, wanted to come to L.A.

You know he prob’ly my oldest friend from L.A. Yeah, Easy, Joppy went on, bowing and grinning. His grip was strong but slithery, like a snake coiling around my hand. You can call me DeWitt, Easy, the white man said. I put a dollar down on the bar and made to leave, but before I was off the stool Joppy turned my way and waved me toward them.Ĭom’on over here, Easy. Joppy was a tough ex-heavyweight who was comfortable brawling in the ring or in the street, but he ducked his head and smiled at that white man just like a salesman whose luck had gone bad. The second thing that surprised me was that he made Joppy nervous. They shook hands and exchanged greetings like old friends. The white man smiled at me, then he walked to the bar where Joppy was running a filthy rag over the marble top. I ate with them and slept with them, and I killed enough blue-eyed young men to know that they were just as afraid to die as I was. I had spent five years with white men, and women, from Africa to Italy, through Paris, and into the Fatherland itself. When he looked at me I felt a thrill of fear, but that went away quickly because I was used to white people by 1948. He stopped in the doorway, filling it with his large frame, and surveyed the room with pale eyes not a color I’d ever seen in a man’s eyes. One lick of strawberry-blond hair escaped the band of his hat. His skin was smooth and pale with just a few freckles. It’s not just that he was white but he wore an off-white linen suit and shirt with a Panama straw hat and bone shoes over flashing white silk socks. I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE A WHITE MAN walk into Joppy’s bar. Redacted from the original blog review at dog eared copy, Devil in a Blue Dress Read more The narrator's evenness in tone and pace regardless of the scene renders the whole of the story neutered of tension or excitement.

He does a good job of drawing up distinctive voices for the differing characters, both male and female and, using parenthetical interpretation to denote interior thought (versus spoken lines.) Overall, however, the narration lacks liveliness and shape. Samuel Becket in 'China Beach' and Carter Haywood on 'Spin City' to name but two memorable roles) is the narrator of Devil in a Blue Dress. The writing is descriptive and nearly pedantic but overall the plot is solid if without any real surprises. The story is embroidered with black history, post war US history and, issues regarding race and prejudice.

Enter DeWitt Albright, a white man of suspect ethics who offers Easy a paying job: to locate Daphne Monet, a white woman who is known to frequent black jazz clubs but who has disappeared with $30,000 in cash. Ezekiel 'Easy' Rawlins, a black WWII vet who has relocated from Houston to L.A., finds himself without a job but with a mortgage to pay.

The devil in the blue dress book