Chester Himes
Encyclopedia
Chester Bomar Himes was an American
writer
. His works include If He Hollers Let Him Go
and a series of Harlem Detective
novels. In 1958 he won France's Grand Prix de Littérature Policière
; two of his novels were made into feature films: Cotton Comes to Harlem directed by Ossie Davis
in 1970 and A Rage in Harlem starring Gregory Hines
and Danny Glover
in 1991.
, on July 29, 1909. He grew up in a middle-class home in Missouri. When Himes was about 12 years old, his father took a teaching job at Branch Normal College in Pine Bluff, Arkansas
, and soon a tragedy took place that would profoundly shape Himes's view of race relations. He had misbehaved and his mother made him sit out a gunpowder demonstration that he and his brother, Joseph Jr., were supposed to conduct during a school assembly. Working alone, Joseph mixed the chemicals; they exploded in his face. Rushed to the nearest hospital, the blinded boy was refused treatment. "That one moment in my life hurt me as much as all the others put together," Himes wrote in The Quality of Hurt. Chester's parents were Joseph Sandy Himes and Estelle Bomar Himes; his father was a peripatetic
black college professor of industrial trades and his mother was a teacher at Scotia Seminary prior to marriage; the family eventually settled in Cleveland, Ohio. His parents' marriage was unhappy and eventually ended in divorce.
in Columbus
, Ohio
, he was expelled for playing a prank. In late 1928 he was arrested and sentenced to jail and hard labor for 20 to 25 years for armed robbery and sent to Ohio Penitentiary
. In prison, he wrote short stories and had them published in national magazines. Himes stated that writing in prison
and being published was a way to earn respect from guards and fellow inmates, as well as avoid violence.
His first stories appeared in 1931 in The Bronzeman and, starting in 1934, in Esquire
. His story To What Red Hell (published in Esquire in 1934) as well as to his novel Cast the First Stone - only much later republished unabridged as Yesterday Will Make You Cry (1998) dealt with the catastrophic 1930 prison fire Himes witnessed at Ohio Penitentiary
in 1930.
In 1934 Himes was transferred to London Prison Farm and in April 1936 he was released on parole into his mother's custody. Following his release he worked at part time jobs and at the same time continued to write. During this period he came in touch with Langston Hughes
who facilitated Himes's contacts with the world of literature and publishing.
In 1936 Himes married Jean Johnson.
and The Lonely Crusade that charted the experiences of the wave of black in-migrants, drawn by the city's defense industries, and their dealings with the established black community, fellow workers, unions and management. He also provided an analysis of the Zoot Suit Riots
for The Crisis
, the magazine of the NAACP.
Mike Davis
in City of Quartz: Excavating the Future of Los Angeles
, describing the prevalence of racism in Hollywood in the 40s and 50s, cites Himes' brief career as a screenwriter for Warner Brothers, terminated when Jack Warner
heard about him and said "I don't want no gotdamned niggers on this lot." (Davies, City of Quartz, pg 43, Verso 2006). Himes later wrote in his autobiography:
writers Richard Wright
, James Baldwin
, and William Gardner Smith
.
It was in Paris in the late 1950s that Chester met his second wife Lesley Himes, née Packard, when she went to interview him. She was a journalist at the Herald Tribune, where she wrote her own fashion column, “Monica”. He described her as “Irish-English with blue-gray eyes and very good looking”, he also saw her courage and resilience, Chester said to Lesley, “You’re the only true color blind person I’ve ever met in my life.” After he suffered a stroke, in 1959, Lesley quit her job and nursed him back to health. She cared for him for the rest of his life, and worked with him as his informal editor, proofreader, confidant and, as the director, Van Peebles dubbed her, “his watchdog”. After a long engagement, they were married in 1978.
Lesley and Chester faced adversities as a mixed race couple, particularly in the United States, but they prevailed. Theirs was a life lived with an unparallelled passion and great humour. Their circle of political colleagues and creative friends included not only such towering figures as Langston Hughes and Richard Wright (mentioned above); it also included figures such as Malcolm X
, Carl Van Vechten
, Picasso, Jean Miotte
, Ollie Harrington
, Nikki Giovanni
and Ishmael Reed
. Bohemian life in Paris would in turn lead them to the South of France and finally on to Spain where they lived until Chester’s death in 1984.
, Spain
, where he died in 1984 from Parkinson's Disease
.
and Raymond Chandler
. Ishmael Reed says "[Himes] taught me the difference between a black detective and Sherlock Holmes" and it would be more than 30 years until another Black mystery writer, Walter Mosley and his Easy Rawlins and Mouse series, had even a similar effect.
Himes was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha
fraternity.
In 1996, his widow Lesley Himes went to New York to work with Ed Margolies on the first biographical treatment of Himes's life entitled, “The Several Lives of Chester Himes”, by long-time Himes scholars Edward Margolies and Michel Fabre, published in 1997 by University Press of Mississippi. Later, novelist and Himes scholar James Sallis
published a more deeply detailed biography of Himes called Chester Himes: A Life (2000).
A detailed examination of Himes's writing and what has been written about him in both America and Europe can be found in "Chester Himes: An Annotated Primary and Secondary Bibliography" compiled by Michel Fabre, Robert E. Skinner, and Lester Sullivan (Greenwood Press, 1992).
s including the crime novel/mystery and political polemics, exploring racism
in the United States
.
Chester Himes wrote about African Americans in general, especially in two books that are concerned with labor relations and African American workplace issues. If He Hollers Let Him Go
— which contains many autobiographical elements — is about a black shipyard
worker in Los Angeles
during World War II
struggling against racism, as well as his own violent reactions to racism. Lonely Crusade is a longer work that examines some of the same issues.
Cast the First Stone (1952) is based on Himes's experiences in prison. It was Himes's first novel but was not published until about 10 years after it was written. One reason may have been Himes' unusually candid treatment — for that time — of a homosexual relationship. Originally written in the third person, it was rewritten in the first person in a more "hard-boiled" style. Yesterday Will Make You Cry (1993), published after Himes's death, restored the original manuscript.
Himes also wrote a series of Harlem Detective
novels featuring Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones, New York City
police detectives in Harlem
. The novels feature a mordant emotional timbre and a fatalistic approach to street situations. Funeral home
s are often part of the story, and funeral director H. Exodus Clay is a recurring character in these books.
The titles of the series include A Rage in Harlem, The Real Cool Killers
, The Crazy Kill, All Shot Up, The Big Gold Dream, The Heat's On
, Cotton Comes to Harlem, and Blind Man With A Pistol; all written in the period 1957-1969.
Cotton Comes to Harlem
was made into a movie in 1970, which was set in that time period, rather than the earlier period of the original book. A sequel, Come Back, Charleston Blue
was released in 1972. And For Love of Imabelle was made into a film under the title A Rage in Harlem in 1991.
In May 2011, Penguin Modern Classics in London will republish five of Chester’s detective novels from the Harlem Cycle. His widow Lesley had been working on this to honor Chester’s last request to “keep my books alive”.
A useful companion to the two volumes of autobiography is "Conversations with Chester Himes", edited by Michel Fabre and Robert E. Skinner, published by University Press of Mississippi in 1995.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
. His works include If He Hollers Let Him Go
If He Hollers Let Him Go
If He Hollers Let Him Go is a novel by Chester Himes, published in 1945, about an African American shipyard worker in Los Angeles during World War II. A 1968 film adaptation with Raymond St. Jacques, Barbara McNair, Kevin McCarthy, and Arthur O'Connell bore little resemblance to the book.The story...
and a series of Harlem Detective
Harlem Detective
The Harlem Detective series of novels by Chester Himes comprises nine hardboiled novels set in the 1950s and early 1960s:* For Love of Imabelle, AKA A Rage in Harlem* The Crazy Kill* The Real Cool Killers* All Shot Up* The Big Gold Dream* The Heat's On...
novels. In 1958 he won France's Grand Prix de Littérature Policière
Grand Prix de Littérature Policière
The Grand Prix de Littérature Policière is a French literary prize founded in 1948 by author and literary critic Maurice-Bernard Endrèbe. It is the most prestigious award for crime and detective fiction in France...
; two of his novels were made into feature films: Cotton Comes to Harlem directed by Ossie Davis
Ossie Davis
Ossie Davis was an American film actor, director, poet, playwright, writer, and social activist.-Early years:...
in 1970 and A Rage in Harlem starring Gregory Hines
Gregory Hines
Gregory Oliver Hines was an American actor, singer, dancer and choreographer.-Early years:Born in New York City, Hines and his older brother Maurice started dancing at an early age, studying with choreographer Henry LeTang...
and Danny Glover
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
in 1991.
Early life
Chester Himes was born in Jefferson City, MissouriMissouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, on July 29, 1909. He grew up in a middle-class home in Missouri. When Himes was about 12 years old, his father took a teaching job at Branch Normal College in Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Pine Bluff is the largest city and county seat of Jefferson County, Arkansas, United States. It is also the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff, Arkansas Combined Statistical Area...
, and soon a tragedy took place that would profoundly shape Himes's view of race relations. He had misbehaved and his mother made him sit out a gunpowder demonstration that he and his brother, Joseph Jr., were supposed to conduct during a school assembly. Working alone, Joseph mixed the chemicals; they exploded in his face. Rushed to the nearest hospital, the blinded boy was refused treatment. "That one moment in my life hurt me as much as all the others put together," Himes wrote in The Quality of Hurt. Chester's parents were Joseph Sandy Himes and Estelle Bomar Himes; his father was a peripatetic
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
black college professor of industrial trades and his mother was a teacher at Scotia Seminary prior to marriage; the family eventually settled in Cleveland, Ohio. His parents' marriage was unhappy and eventually ended in divorce.
Prison and literary beginnings
Himes attended East High School in Cleveland. While he was a freshman at Ohio State UniversityOhio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
in Columbus
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, he was expelled for playing a prank. In late 1928 he was arrested and sentenced to jail and hard labor for 20 to 25 years for armed robbery and sent to Ohio Penitentiary
Ohio Penitentiary
The Ohio Penitentiary, also known as the Ohio State Penitentiary, or less formally, the Ohio Pen or State Pen, was a prison operated from 1834-1983 in downtown Columbus, Ohio, in what is now known as the Arena District. The prison housed 5,235 prisoners at its peak in 1955...
. In prison, he wrote short stories and had them published in national magazines. Himes stated that writing in prison
Prison literature in the United States
American prison literature is literature written by Americans who are incarcerated. It is a distinct literary phenomenon which is increasingly studied as such by academics.In the words of Arnold Erickson:- Overview :...
and being published was a way to earn respect from guards and fellow inmates, as well as avoid violence.
His first stories appeared in 1931 in The Bronzeman and, starting in 1934, in Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
. His story To What Red Hell (published in Esquire in 1934) as well as to his novel Cast the First Stone - only much later republished unabridged as Yesterday Will Make You Cry (1998) dealt with the catastrophic 1930 prison fire Himes witnessed at Ohio Penitentiary
Ohio Penitentiary
The Ohio Penitentiary, also known as the Ohio State Penitentiary, or less formally, the Ohio Pen or State Pen, was a prison operated from 1834-1983 in downtown Columbus, Ohio, in what is now known as the Arena District. The prison housed 5,235 prisoners at its peak in 1955...
in 1930.
In 1934 Himes was transferred to London Prison Farm and in April 1936 he was released on parole into his mother's custody. Following his release he worked at part time jobs and at the same time continued to write. During this period he came in touch with Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
who facilitated Himes's contacts with the world of literature and publishing.
In 1936 Himes married Jean Johnson.
First books
In the 1940s Himes spent time in Los Angeles, working as a screenwriter but also producing two novels, If He Hollers Let Him GoIf He Hollers Let Him Go
If He Hollers Let Him Go is a novel by Chester Himes, published in 1945, about an African American shipyard worker in Los Angeles during World War II. A 1968 film adaptation with Raymond St. Jacques, Barbara McNair, Kevin McCarthy, and Arthur O'Connell bore little resemblance to the book.The story...
and The Lonely Crusade that charted the experiences of the wave of black in-migrants, drawn by the city's defense industries, and their dealings with the established black community, fellow workers, unions and management. He also provided an analysis of the Zoot Suit Riots
Zoot Suit Riots
The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots in 1943 during World War II that erupted in Los Angeles, California between white sailors and Marines stationed throughout thehi c mlc city and Latino youths, who were recognizable by the zoot suits they favored...
for The Crisis
The Crisis
The Crisis is the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People , and was founded in 1910 by W. E. B. Du Bois , Oswald Garrison Villard, J. Max Barber, Charles Edward Russell, Kelly Miller, W.S. Braithwaite, M. D. Maclean.The original title of the journal was...
, the magazine of the NAACP.
Mike Davis
Mike Davis (scholar)
Mike Davis is an American Marxist social commentator, urban theorist, historian, and political activist. He is best known for his investigations of power and social class in his native Southern California.-Life:...
in City of Quartz: Excavating the Future of Los Angeles
City of Quartz
City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles is a 1990 book by Mike Davis examining problems facing Los Angeles. The underlying material was originally intended as a Ph.D. submission in completion of the requirements for his history doctorate, but it was rejected...
, describing the prevalence of racism in Hollywood in the 40s and 50s, cites Himes' brief career as a screenwriter for Warner Brothers, terminated when Jack Warner
Jack Warner
Jack Leonard "J. L." Warner , born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, was a Canadian American film executive who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California...
heard about him and said "I don't want no gotdamned niggers on this lot." (Davies, City of Quartz, pg 43, Verso 2006). Himes later wrote in his autobiography:
Emigration to France
By the 1950s Himes had decided to settle in France permanently, a country he liked in part due to his popularity in literary circles. In Paris, Himes' was the contemporary of the political cartoonist Oliver Harrington and fellow expatriateExpatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
writers Richard Wright
Richard Wright (author)
Richard Nathaniel Wright was an African-American author of sometimes controversial novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction. Much of his literature concerns racial themes, especially those involving the plight of African-Americans during the late 19th to mid 20th centuries...
, James Baldwin
James Baldwin (writer)
James Arthur Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic.Baldwin's essays, for instance "Notes of a Native Son" , explore palpable yet unspoken intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th century America,...
, and William Gardner Smith
William Gardner Smith
William Gardner Smith was an American journalist, novelist, and editor. Smith is linked to the black social protest novel tradition of the 1940s and the 1950s, a movement that became synonymous with writers such as Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, Willard Motley, and Ann Petry...
.
It was in Paris in the late 1950s that Chester met his second wife Lesley Himes, née Packard, when she went to interview him. She was a journalist at the Herald Tribune, where she wrote her own fashion column, “Monica”. He described her as “Irish-English with blue-gray eyes and very good looking”, he also saw her courage and resilience, Chester said to Lesley, “You’re the only true color blind person I’ve ever met in my life.” After he suffered a stroke, in 1959, Lesley quit her job and nursed him back to health. She cared for him for the rest of his life, and worked with him as his informal editor, proofreader, confidant and, as the director, Van Peebles dubbed her, “his watchdog”. After a long engagement, they were married in 1978.
Lesley and Chester faced adversities as a mixed race couple, particularly in the United States, but they prevailed. Theirs was a life lived with an unparallelled passion and great humour. Their circle of political colleagues and creative friends included not only such towering figures as Langston Hughes and Richard Wright (mentioned above); it also included figures such as Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
, Carl Van Vechten
Carl van Vechten
Carl Van Vechten was an American writer and photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary executor of Gertrude Stein.-Biography:...
, Picasso, Jean Miotte
Jean Miotte
Jean Miotte is a French abstract painter, in the style known as L'Art Informel. His work is preserved and studied at the Miotte Foundation....
, Ollie Harrington
Ollie Harrington
Oliver Wendell Harrington , of multi-ethnic descent, was called by Langston Hughes, "America's greatest African-American cartoonist," an assessment that has stood the test of time...
, Nikki Giovanni
Nikki Giovanni
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni is an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. Her primary focus is on the individual and the power one has to make a difference in oneself and in the lives of others. Giovanni’s poetry expresses strong racial pride, respect for family, and her...
and Ishmael Reed
Ishmael Reed
Ishmael Scott Reed is an American poet, essayist, and novelist. A prominent African-American literary figure, Reed is known for his satirical works challenging American political culture, and highlighting political and cultural oppression.Reed has been described as one of the most controversial...
. Bohemian life in Paris would in turn lead them to the South of France and finally on to Spain where they lived until Chester’s death in 1984.
Later life and death
In 1969 Himes moved to MorairaMoraira
Moraira is a small Spanish coastal town, part of Teulada municipality, in the Marina Alta comarca, 80 km north of Alicante and 100 km south of Valencia...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, where he died in 1984 from Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
.
Critical reception and biography
Some regard Chester Himes as the literary equal of Dashiell HammettDashiell Hammett
Samuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories, and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade , Nick and Nora Charles , and the Continental Op .In addition to the significant influence his novels and stories had on...
and Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
. Ishmael Reed says "[Himes] taught me the difference between a black detective and Sherlock Holmes" and it would be more than 30 years until another Black mystery writer, Walter Mosley and his Easy Rawlins and Mouse series, had even a similar effect.
Himes was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha is the first Inter-Collegiate Black Greek Letter fraternity. It was founded on December 4, 1906 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Its founders are known as the "Seven Jewels". Alpha Phi Alpha developed a model that was used by the many Black Greek Letter Organizations ...
fraternity.
In 1996, his widow Lesley Himes went to New York to work with Ed Margolies on the first biographical treatment of Himes's life entitled, “The Several Lives of Chester Himes”, by long-time Himes scholars Edward Margolies and Michel Fabre, published in 1997 by University Press of Mississippi. Later, novelist and Himes scholar James Sallis
James Sallis
James Sallis is an American crime writer, poet and musician, best known for his series of novels featuring the character Lew Griffin and set in New Orleans, and for his 2005 novel Drive, which was adapted into a 2011 film of the same name.He is the brother of philosopher John Sallis...
published a more deeply detailed biography of Himes called Chester Himes: A Life (2000).
A detailed examination of Himes's writing and what has been written about him in both America and Europe can be found in "Chester Himes: An Annotated Primary and Secondary Bibliography" compiled by Michel Fabre, Robert E. Skinner, and Lester Sullivan (Greenwood Press, 1992).
Works
Himes's novels encompassed many genreGenre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
s including the crime novel/mystery and political polemics, exploring racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Chester Himes wrote about African Americans in general, especially in two books that are concerned with labor relations and African American workplace issues. If He Hollers Let Him Go
If He Hollers Let Him Go
If He Hollers Let Him Go is a novel by Chester Himes, published in 1945, about an African American shipyard worker in Los Angeles during World War II. A 1968 film adaptation with Raymond St. Jacques, Barbara McNair, Kevin McCarthy, and Arthur O'Connell bore little resemblance to the book.The story...
— which contains many autobiographical elements — is about a black shipyard
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
worker in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
struggling against racism, as well as his own violent reactions to racism. Lonely Crusade is a longer work that examines some of the same issues.
Cast the First Stone (1952) is based on Himes's experiences in prison. It was Himes's first novel but was not published until about 10 years after it was written. One reason may have been Himes' unusually candid treatment — for that time — of a homosexual relationship. Originally written in the third person, it was rewritten in the first person in a more "hard-boiled" style. Yesterday Will Make You Cry (1993), published after Himes's death, restored the original manuscript.
Himes also wrote a series of Harlem Detective
Harlem Detective
The Harlem Detective series of novels by Chester Himes comprises nine hardboiled novels set in the 1950s and early 1960s:* For Love of Imabelle, AKA A Rage in Harlem* The Crazy Kill* The Real Cool Killers* All Shot Up* The Big Gold Dream* The Heat's On...
novels featuring Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
police detectives in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
. The novels feature a mordant emotional timbre and a fatalistic approach to street situations. Funeral home
Funeral home
A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the deceased and their families. These services may include aprepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral....
s are often part of the story, and funeral director H. Exodus Clay is a recurring character in these books.
The titles of the series include A Rage in Harlem, The Real Cool Killers
The Real Cool Killers
The Real Cool Killers is a Hardboiled Crime Fiction novel written by Chester Himes. Published in 1959, it is the second book in the Grave Digger Jones & Coffin Ed Johnson Mysteries. The protagonists of the novel, Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed are a pair of black detectives who patrol the...
, The Crazy Kill, All Shot Up, The Big Gold Dream, The Heat's On
The Heat's On
The Heat's On is a movie musical starring Mae West, William Gaxton, and Victor Moore, and released by Columbia Pictures.-Plot:Broadway star Fay Lawrence is a temperamental diva who is reluctantly persuaded by a Broadway producer to star in his latest production.-Production background:Mae West...
, Cotton Comes to Harlem, and Blind Man With A Pistol; all written in the period 1957-1969.
Cotton Comes to Harlem
Cotton Comes to Harlem (film)
Cotton Comes to Harlem is a 1970 blaxploitation film co-written and directed by Ossie Davis and starring Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, and Redd Foxx: it is based on Chester Himes' novel of the same name...
was made into a movie in 1970, which was set in that time period, rather than the earlier period of the original book. A sequel, Come Back, Charleston Blue
Come Back, Charleston Blue
Come Back Charleston Blue is a 1972 film starring Godfrey Cambridge and Raymond St. Jacques, loosely based on Chester Himes' novel The Heat's On. It is a sequel to the 1970 film Cotton Comes to Harlem.-Plot:...
was released in 1972. And For Love of Imabelle was made into a film under the title A Rage in Harlem in 1991.
In May 2011, Penguin Modern Classics in London will republish five of Chester’s detective novels from the Harlem Cycle. His widow Lesley had been working on this to honor Chester’s last request to “keep my books alive”.
Novels and stories
- If He Hollers Let Him GoIf He Hollers Let Him GoIf He Hollers Let Him Go is a novel by Chester Himes, published in 1945, about an African American shipyard worker in Los Angeles during World War II. A 1968 film adaptation with Raymond St. Jacques, Barbara McNair, Kevin McCarthy, and Arthur O'Connell bore little resemblance to the book.The story...
, 1945 - Lonely Crusade, 1947
- Cast the First Stone, 1952
- The Third Generation, 1954
- The End of a Primitive, 1955
- For Love of Imabelle, alternate titles The Five-Cornered Square, A Rage in Harlem, 1957
- The Real Cool KillersThe Real Cool KillersThe Real Cool Killers is a Hardboiled Crime Fiction novel written by Chester Himes. Published in 1959, it is the second book in the Grave Digger Jones & Coffin Ed Johnson Mysteries. The protagonists of the novel, Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed are a pair of black detectives who patrol the...
, 1959 - The Crazy Kill, 1959
- The Big Gold Dream, 1960
- All Shot Up, 1960
- Run Man Run, 1960
- Pinktoes, 1961
- Cotton Comes to HarlemCotton Comes to Harlem (book)Cotton Comes to Harlem is a Hardboiled Crime Fiction novel written by Chester Himes in 1965. It is the sixth, and best known of the Grave Digger Jones & Coffin Ed Johnson Mysteries. It was later adapted into a film of the same name in 1970 starring Red Foxx....
, 1965 - The Heat's On, 1966
- Blind Man with a Pistol, 1969
- Black on Black, 1973
- A Case of Rape, 1980
- The Collected Stories of Chester Himes, 1990
- Plan BPlan B (novel)Plan B is an unfinished novel published posthumously in 1993 by Chester Himes, which is the final volume in the Harlem Cycle. The story is even darker and more nihilistic than the preceding volumes, culminating in a violent revolutionary movement in the streets of America.-Plot summary:The story...
, 1993 - Yesterday Will Make You Cry, 1998
Autobiographies
- The Quality of Hurt (1973)
- My Life of Absurdity (1976)
A useful companion to the two volumes of autobiography is "Conversations with Chester Himes", edited by Michel Fabre and Robert E. Skinner, published by University Press of Mississippi in 1995.
External links
- Biography
- Overview and Review of Himes's Work Audiobook (mp3) : Face in the moon, short story translated in French
- http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/chimes.htm
- Some thoughts on Chester Himes on the 100th anniversary of his birth