About this item
A special edition of A Rage in Harlem, a ripping introduction to Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones, who patrol New York City's roughest streets in Chester Himes's groundbreaking Harlem Detectives series. Featuring an introduction by James Ellroy.For love of fine, wily Imabelle, hapless Jackson surrenders his life savings to a con man who knows the secret of turning ten-dollar bills into hundreds - and then he steals from his boss, only to lose the stolen money at a craps table. Luckily for him, he can turn to his savvy twin brother, Goldy, who earns a living - disguised as a Sister of Mercy - by selling tickets to Heaven in Harlem. With Goldy on his side, Jackson is ready for payback.. "Himes's Harlem saga vies with the novels of David Goodis and Jim Thompson as the inescapable achievement of postwar American crime fiction.
About the Author
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 , 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 (now known in English as ) in 1958. Three of these novels have been adapted into movies: , directed by Ossie Davis in 1970; (based on ) in 1972; and , starring Gregory Hines and Danny Glover in 1991. In 1968, Himes moved to Spain where he made his home until his death.
