Chester Himes

Author profile

born

in Jefferson City, The United States

July 29, 1909

died

November 12, 1984

gender

male

genre

Literature & Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers

About this author

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Chester Bomar Himes began writing in the early 1930s while serving a prison sentence for armed robbery. From there, he produced short stories for periodicals such as Esquire and Abbott's Monthly. When released, he focussed on semi-autobiographical protest novels.

In 1953, Himes emigrated to France, where he was approached by Marcel Duhamel of Gallimard to write a detective series for Série Noire, which had published works from the likes of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Jim Thompson. Himes would be the first black author included in the series. The resulting Harlem Cycle gained him celebrity when he won France's Grand Prix de Littérature Policière for La Reine des Pommes (now known in English as A Rage in Harlem) in 1958. Three of t...more

combine editions
Chester Himes's Books

Average rating: 3.90 · 4,435 ratings · 394 reviews · 35 distinct works · Similar authors

	A Rage in Harlem 3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 avg rating — 1,171 ratings — published 1957 — 31 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	If He Hollers Let Him Go by Chester Himes, Hilton Als (Foreword by) 3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 avg rating — 694 ratings — published 1945 — 10 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cotton Comes to Harlem (Harlem Cycle, #7) 3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 avg rating — 508 ratings — published 1964 — 15 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Real Cool Killers (Harlem Cycle, #2) 3.88 of 5 stars 3.88 avg rating — 424 ratings — published 1958 — 15 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Blind Man with a Pistol (Harlem Cycle, #8) 3.6 of 5 stars 3.60 avg rating — 241 ratings — published 1969 — 19 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Heat's On (Harlem Cycle, #6) 3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 avg rating — 174 ratings — published 1961 — 18 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Crazy Kill (Harlem Cycle, #3) 3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 avg rating — 132 ratings — published 1959 — 16 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	All Shot Up (Harlem Cycle, #5) 3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 avg rating — 131 ratings — published 1960 — 17 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Yesterday Will Make You Cry 4.05 of 5 stars 4.05 avg rating — 104 ratings — published 1998 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Collected Stories of Chester Himes by Chester Himes, Calvin Hernton (Foreword by) 4.21 of 5 stars 4.21 avg rating — 77 ratings — published 1991 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Chester Himes…

Series by Chester Himes

Harlem Cycle (9 books)
by Chester Himes
3.8771448181194237 of 5 stars 3.88 avg rating — 2,914 ratings

Quotes by Chester Himes

“It seemed so illogical to punish some poor criminal for doing something that civilization taught him how to do so he could have something that civilization taught him how to want. It seemed to him as wrong as if they had hung the gun that shot the man.”
― Chester Himes, Yesterday Will Make You Cry

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