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" (Walter Mosely). He was the twentieth century's
most prolific black writer, captured the spirit of his times expertly,
and left a distinctive mark on American literature. Yet today he stands
largely forgotten.
In this definitive biography of Chester B. Himes (1909-1984), Lawrence
P. Jackson uses exclusive interviews and unrestricted access to Himes's
full archives to portray a controversial American writer whose novels
unflinchingly confront sex, racism, and black identity. Himes brutally
rendered racial politics in the best-selling novel If He Hollers Let
Him Go, but he became famous for his Harlem detective series, including
Cotton Comes to Harlem. A serious literary tastemaker in his day,
Himes had friendships--sometimes uneasy--with such luminaries as Ralph
Ellison, Carl Van Vechten, and Richard Wright.
Jackson's scholarship and astute commentary illuminates Himes's
improbable life--his middle-class origins, his eight years in prison,
his painful odyssey as a black World War II-era artist, and his escape
to Europe for success. More than ten years in the writing, Jackson's
biography restores the legacy of a fascinating maverick caught between
his aspirations for commercial success and his disturbing, vivid
portraits of the United States.
