Chester Himes (1909–1984)

Himes’ first novel shows that his talents as a writer were intact early. The prose swings hard and direct, the poignancy intensified by the first-person narration. A reader feels the anger, remorse, doubt, and defiance of the protagonist as he maneuvers around and through the mire of classism, colorism, and the ubiquitous racism of WWII-era Los Angeles. The potential for violence hangs over almost every encounter, like a choking smoke. Himes’ early novels didn’t get the respect they show more deserve, but in the wild action of the last pages here, you can almost see his raucous Harlem novels coming a decade later. show less

A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes was originally published in 1957. I listened to an audio version read by Samuel L. Jackson who was the perfect person to voice this blistering, unrelentless yet humorous story. The main character, Jackson, isn’t the sharpest tool in the box, he is vulnerable and totally besotted by his girlfriend, Imabelle, so when she involves him in a scam he goes along willingly. Of course when things go pear-shaped, he finds himself out of his money, out of his job and show more without Imabelle and her missing trunk.

Jackson goes to his twin brother, Goldy, for help to find Imabelle. Goldy, works his own scam impersonating a nun and collecting “charity”. Before too long Goldy is convinced that there is money to be had with this deal, the police are again involved and Jackson is still convinced that Imabelle needs to be rescued. The action takes place over the course of one long and exciting night, but come morning there is a body count to be tallied into the story as well.

The borough of Harlem and it’s residents are one of the main interests in this story. It is very quickly made clear that there is a dark anger brewing just under the surface. The people of Harlem live under different laws from the whites, and the poverty, although never directly pointed out, is explicit. A Rage in Harlem is a dark and hard-boiled crime story that keeps it’s characters on the verge of chaos and desperation. I highly recommend the story and, in particular, this audio version. show less

A white man is murdered on a Harlem street and the NYPD arrives in force to solve the crime. Most notably, two black detectives, Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson, are first on the scene. To say that chaos ensues would be an understatement. The narrative shifts between the police and the youth gang, The Real Cool Moslems, that has spirited away the suspected murderer. Though the subject matter is very sordid, this isn't as downbeat a book as most of Jim Thompson, Charles Willeford, or show more David Goodis. But even the two detectives don't come across as totally sympathetic. The violence that runs through Harlem in this book runs through their veins too. As the novel twists its way to its (perhaps) surprising conclusion, we see prostitutes, madams, pimps, juvenile delinquents, and lots of people who choose to look the other way when a crime occurs. Nevertheless, there is also a vein of humor, particularly the bumbling antics of some of the white policemen, who are shown to be out of their element in the depths of Harlem. Himes is a good storyteller, though the novel has a few strictly explicatory passages that seem a little out of place. I'll definitely check out his other novels in the Gravedigger/Coffin Ed series to see how these two manage to cope on their other cases. show less

It begins with an albino giant. And a dwarf.

And I still don’t understand how the drugs were up the rabbit’s butt! How did it poop? "...he removed a small square of adhesive tape covering the rabbit's rectum, then withdrew a long rubber plug with a tiny metal handle like a sink stopper." "He squeezed the rabbit's stomach and a small aluminum capsule popped out. He put the capsule into his pocket a restoppered the rabbit." WTF???

“Even cotton got rotten with age and corn got too wormy to show more shuck.”

“TWO HARLEM DETECTIVES SUSPENDED FOR BRUTALITY”. Of course those two are Grave Digger and Coffin Ed. Suspended “…for punching a mother-raping pusher in the guts…”!

My favorite part of this book is reading about Coffin Ed going about his vengeance when he believed that Gravedigger had been killed! He was a machine of death! Coffin Ed armed and out for revenge is a scary man! When told that he had blood on his shirt cuff, he replied, “Yeah…and there’s going to be some more.”
“He was in it; he was like the airplane over the middle of the ocean that had passed the point of no return.””He had left a trail of hysteria, screaming jeebies, knotty heads and bloody noses.”

"People think we enjoy being tough, shooting people and knocking them in the head." Count this reader as one of those people! :-)

"With eleven people whom we know of already dead from this one caper, and five kilos of pure poison loose in New York City, and we haven't even scratched the bottom of it." Actually 12 dead!

“So much for that. Daddy Haddy had had it.”

“… to take their kicks and greet their chicks;…” show less