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110th out of 115 books
—
47 voters
The Conjure-Man Dies: A Mystery Tale of Dark Harlem
The first known mystery written by an African-American, set in 1930s Harlem
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
April 15th 1992
by University of Michigan Press
(first published 1932)
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THE CONJURE-MAN DIES. (1932). Rudolph Fisher. ****.
This was one of the novels collected in The Library of America’s two-volume set titled, “Harlem Renaissance,” and was easily the most readable and enjoyable of the lot. The author (b. 1897; d.1934) was born in Washington, D.C. and died in Harlem. He received a medical degree in 1924 from Howard University and was a friend of Paul Robeson. In addition to his medical practice, he also wrote articles published in several magazines and one other no...more
This was one of the novels collected in The Library of America’s two-volume set titled, “Harlem Renaissance,” and was easily the most readable and enjoyable of the lot. The author (b. 1897; d.1934) was born in Washington, D.C. and died in Harlem. He received a medical degree in 1924 from Howard University and was a friend of Paul Robeson. In addition to his medical practice, he also wrote articles published in several magazines and one other no...more
science and crime come together in 1930's Harlem. Interesting, just interesting. Would reccomend to anyone who enjoys crime novels.
The first known mystery novel written by an African-American, this was a decent crime novel published in 1932. Other than the time period and technology, it has pretty much every element of a good CSI-type crime show - interesting (and some crazy) characters, great humor, a prevalent setting (Harlem), and a nice twist at the end.
A lost gem. It's commonplace to say "There is no Chester Himes or Walter Mosley without Fisher's novel," but I'd also suggest that there might not be Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. That is, within the conventions of a detective novel, Fisher offers a delightfully ironic, complicated, and ambiguous Harlem, populated by surreal figures and ripe with several different languages competing against each other. I can't praise this novel enough. Should be on the reading list of every reader interested i...more
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I thought I knew who the killer was, but the ending still surprised me! Very fun and interesting book.
Interesting tale. I quite enjoyed it.
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