(MUSIC)
DOUG JOHNSON:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.
(MUSIC)
This is Doug Johnson. On our show this week:
Music from the Scissor Sisters …
The newest crime mystery from author Walter Mosley …
And a question from a listener who wants to know what Americansdo in their free time.
Walter Mosley
DOUG JOHNSON:
Walter Mosley has published eight books in his Easy Rawlinsmystery series. Gwen Outen tells us about this popular author andhis most recent book.
SHEP O’NEAL:
Walter Mosley is fifty-two years old. He was born in Los Angeles,California. He is the son of an African-American father and a Jewishmother. His books have been published in more than twenty languages.
Walter Mosley calls himself a political writer. His books gainedpopularity during the nineteen ninety-two presidential campaign.Bill Clinton named him as one of his favorite writers.
Walter Mosley is best known for his mystery series about aprivate investigator. Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins is African-American. Heis tough and powerful, yet caring and gentle.
Most of the books in the series have names of colors in theirtitles. First in the series was “Devil in a Blue Dress.” It waspublished in nineteen-ninety. Other titles include “WhiteButterfly,” “Black Betty” and “A Little Yellow Dog.”
Walter Mosley recently published “Little Scarlet.” Scarlet is akind of red. The story is about a woman named Nola Payne. She isknown as Little Scarlet because she has red hair. The story takesplace in nineteen sixty-five at the time of the race riots in Watts.Watts is a poor area of Los Angeles.
Nola Payne, a black woman, is found murdered after she providedshelter to a white man attacked by rioters. The man becomes asuspect in her murder. Because of racial tensions, white policeofficers call Easy Rawlins to help solve the murder.
Walter Mosley has won many awards. These include an O’Henry Awardand an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. That award honors works thatincrease the understanding of racism or the value of differentcultures. This year the Robert Redford Sundance Institute honoredWalter Mosley with a “Risktaker Award.”
What’s next for Walter Mosley? He plans to publish his first bookfor young adults next year. It will combine history, science fictionand exploration. He is also working on an Easy Rawlins televisionseries. And Walter Mosley says he is working on his next EasyRawlins mystery novel. It, too, will be published next year.
Leisure Activities
DOUG JOHNSON:
Our VOA listener question this week comes from Ghana. JonathanMutuo asks what Americans do when they are not working.
Well, the average adult spends almost two hours a day onhousehold activities like cooking, cleaning and paying bills. How dowe know? The Department of Labor has just released a study of howAmericans use their time.
The study confirmed something that many people already knew.Women spend more time on child care and housework than men do evenwhen the women are employed. Men, however, spend more time at work.Men also spend more time on leisure activities and sports. Theyaverage five hours twenty minutes a day, half an hour more thanwomen.
Leisure activities include things like watching television,seeing friends or exercising. Both men and women reported that theyspent about half their leisure time watching television. Visitingfriends and attending social events was the next most common leisureactivity for both sexes.
Older Americans spent more of their leisure time watching TV andreading than younger people. Younger people reported spending moretime with friends, using the computer and playing sports. In all,nineteen percent of men and sixteen percent of women played sportson any given day. That was another finding of the Labor Departmentstudy.
We did a little study of our own. We asked a few people how theyspend their time outside of work.
A student in a coffee shop in Washington, D.C., told us that shereads or studies for school. She also likes to run and swim. And sheenjoys eating with friends or watching movies. When she’s at home,she enjoys cooking.
A worker at a bookstore likes to experience the local nightlife.He enjoys meeting with his friends for drinks and food. He also goesdancing in clubs. When he wants a quiet night, he turns off histelephone and sleeps as long as he wants.
And a professor at American University in Washington told us thatshe spends her free time on home repairs. “There is a lot to be donewhen you own your own house,” she says. She and her husband alsoenjoy movies. And on nice days, they walk in the woods or visitmuseums.
The Scissor Sisters
DOUG JOHNSON:
The Scissor Sisters were popular in Britain first. But now theband is gaining popularity in the United States. Shep O’Neal has ourreport.
GWEN OUTEN:
The five members of the Scissor Sisters are not really sisters.They are not even all female. The Scissor Sisters are four men andone woman from New York City. Music critics say you have to go backat least thirty years to singers like the Bee Gees or Elton John tofind music like theirs.
Here is an example from their recent album. The name of the songis “Laura.”
(MUSIC)
One of the most popular songs on the album was first recorded bythe British group Pink Floyd. But music critics say the ScissorSisters have taken it to a new level. The song is “ComfortablyNumb.”
(MUSIC)
Fans say the Scissor Sisters are making today’s pop musicexciting again. Anyone old enough to remember disco dance music willrecognize the sound.
We leave you now with another song from the group. This one iscalled “Better Luck.”
(MUSIC)
DOUG JOHNSON:
This is Doug Johnson.
Send your questions about American life to mosaic@voanews.com.Please include your name and postal address. And, if you’d like, youcan also e-mail us a picture of yourself that will appear atvoaspecialenglish dot com if we use your question.
This program was written by Lawan Davis, Brian Kim and NancySteinbach. Paul Thompson was the producer. And our engineer was JimSleeman.
I hope you enjoyed AMERICAN MOSAIC. Join us again next week forVOA’s radio magazine in Special English.