Works Chester Himes

1 works

1.1 novels , stories
1.2 autobiography
1.3 films based on novels

works

himes s novels encompassed many genres including crime novel/mystery , political polemics, exploring racism in united states.

chester himes wrote african americans in general, in 2 books concerned labor relations , african-american workplace issues. if hollers let him go – contains many autobiographical elements – black shipyard worker in los angeles during world war ii struggling against racism, own violent reactions racism. lonely crusade longer work examines of same issues.

cast first stone (1952) based on himes s experiences in prison. himes s first novel not published until ten years after written. 1 reason may have been himes unusually candid treatment – time – of homosexual relationship. written in third person, rewritten in first person in more hard-boiled style. yesterday make cry (1993), published after himes s death, restored original manuscript.

himes wrote series of harlem detective novels featuring coffin ed johnson , gravedigger jones, new york city police detectives in harlem. novels feature mordant emotional timbre , fatalistic approach street situations. funeral homes part of story, , funeral director h. exodus clay recurring character in these books.

the titles of series include rage in harlem, real cool killers, crazy kill, shot up, big gold dream, heat s on, cotton comes harlem, , blind man pistol; written between 1957–1969.

cotton comes harlem made movie in 1970, set in time period, rather earlier period of original book. sequel, come back, charleston blue, released in 1972, , love of imabelle made film under title rage in harlem in 1991.

in may 2011, penguin modern classics in london republished 5 of himes detective novels harlem cycle.

novels , stories

autobiography

a useful companion 2 volumes of autobiography conversations chester himes, edited michel fabre , robert e. skinner, published university press of mississippi in 1995.

films based on novels

four of chester himes novels made feature films: if hollers, let him go! (1968) [uncredited], directed charles martin; cotton comes harlem, directed ossie davis in 1970; come back, charleston blue (the heat s on) (1972), directed mark warren , rage in harlem (starring gregory hines , danny glover), directed bill duke in 1991. himes short stories assassin of saint nicholas avenue , tang have been filmed short subjects.