Chester B. Himes: A New Biography Reminds Us of One of the Greatest American Crime Writers

After the family moved to Cleveland, Chester mixed in Mafia circles and picked up a taste for drink, gambling, prostitution, con games, and other vices, largely financed by a worker's compensation allowance he was granted after a two-story tumble down an elevator shaft. Because of the back inju...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:World literature today 2018-03, Vol.92 (2), p.10-12
Main Author: Davis, J. Madison
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African American writers
African Americans
Anger
Art and society
Authors
Biographies
Cotton
Crime & Mystery
Crime novels
Criticism and interpretation
Himes, Chester
Jackson, Lawrence (American college teacher)
Jackson, Lawrence P
Mysteries
Novels
Power
Prisons
Racial discrimination
Racism
Rape
Robbery
Writers
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Summary:After the family moved to Cleveland, Chester mixed in Mafia circles and picked up a taste for drink, gambling, prostitution, con games, and other vices, largely financed by a worker's compensation allowance he was granted after a two-story tumble down an elevator shaft. Because of the back injury from his fall, he was allowed to write in his cell, sheltering him from much of the prison violence, though he was forever tormented by the horror of the Ohio Penitentiary fire in 1930. Anger is the justifiable reaction to the betrayals, torture, and killings that African Americans have endured in their history. J. Madison Davis is the author of eight mystery novels, including The Murder of Frau Schütz, an Edgar nominee, and Law and Order: Dead Line.
ISSN:0196-3570
1945-8134
1945-8134
DOI:10.1353/wlt.2018.0248