Chester B. Himes: A Biography

ISBN: 0393063895

Author: Jackson, Lawrence P.

Condition: Used

Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Critical/Biographical WorkFinalist for the PEN America/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for BiographyThe definitive biography of the groundbreaking African American author who had an extraordinary legacy on black writers globally.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 centurys 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 Himess 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.Jacksons scholarship and astute commentary illuminates Himess 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, Jacksons biography restores the legacy of a fascinating maverick caught between his aspirations for commercial success and his disturbing, vivid portraits of the United States. 20 illustrations