Author of the Month: Chester Himes
Selected by the Bookshop
Our Author of the Month for May is Chester Himes (1909 – 1984). His macabre detective farces are unlike anything else in American literature. His two recurring characters, detectives Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones, are unforgettable enough, but what stays with you longest is his evocation of mid-century Harlem: sharp, hilarious, brutal and rowdy. If you haven’t read him before, the best place to start is with A Rage in Harlem.
From the publisher:
'The greatest find in American crime fiction since Raymond Chandler' Sunday TimesJackson's woman has found him a foolproof way to make money - a technique for turning ten dollar bills into hundreds. But when the scheme somehow fails,…
From the publisher:
Robert Jones is a crew leader in a naval shipyard in Los Angeles in the 1940s. He should have a lot going for him, being educated, with a steady job and a steady relationship. But in the four days covered in this novel, the impossibility of…
From the publisher:
'The toughest crime stories in print' Sunday TimesThe night's over for Ulysses Galen. It started going bad for the big Greek when a knife was drawn, then there was an axe, then he was being chased and shot at. Now Galen is lying dead in…
From the publisher:
'The greatest find in American crime fiction since Raymond Chandler' Sunday TimesDetectives Coffin Ed and Grave Digger Jones have lost two criminals. Pinky ran off - but it shouldn't be hard to track down a giant albino in Harlem. Jake the…
From the publisher:
'Outrageous, shocking, wonderful' The New York TimesA golden Cadillac big enough to cross the ocean has been seen sailing along the streets of Harlem. A hit-and-run victim's been hit so hard she got embedded in the wall of a convent. A…
From the publisher:
'A bawdy, brazen rollercoaster of a novel . . . the wildest' The New York TimesA preacher called Deke O'Malley's been selling false hope: the promise of a glorious new life in Africa for just $1,000 a family. But when thieves with machine…
From the publisher:
Chester B. Himes has been called "one of the towering figures of the black literary tradition" (Henry Louis Gates Jr.), "the best writer of mayhem yarns since Raymond Chandler" (San Francisco Chronicle), and "a quirky American genius"…
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