Chester Himes

Chester Bomar Himes was born in Jefferson City, Missouri, on July 29, 1909, to a professor and a teacher. His family moved frequently due to his father's academic appointments, and Himes experienced both racial discrimination and family instability. He attended Ohio State University but was expelled after a prank, and later drifted into a life of crime. In 1928, he was sentenced to 20 to 25 years in the Ohio State Penitentiary for armed robbery.¹

While in prison, Himes began writing short stories, some of which were published in national magazines. His first story, "His Last Day," appeared in 1931, and he won attention for his vivid portrayals of prison life. He was released in 1936 after a campaign by supporters, including the novelist Louis Bromfield.²

After his release, Himes worked as a writer for the Works Progress Administration and published his first novel, If He Hollers Let Him Go (1945), a searing depiction of racism in a Los Angeles shipyard. He followed with Lonely Crusade (1947) and Cast the First Stone (1952), but struggled to achieve commercial success. In 1953, he moved to France, where he found a more receptive audience and began writing for the French publisher Gallimard's Série Noire.

His first Harlem novel, For Love of Imabelle (1957), introduced the duo of Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones, whose violent, darkly comic adventures satirized American racism and urban decay. The series, which includes The Real Cool Killers (1959), Cotton Comes to Harlem (1965), and Blind Man with a Pistol (1969), was adapted into films and influenced later crime writers.³

Himes's detective novels are notable for their blend of absurdist humor, graphic violence, and social commentary. He used the genre to expose the systemic racism and economic exploitation faced by African Americans, often depicting Harlem as a chaotic, surreal landscape. His prose is terse and cinematic, with a focus on action and dialogue, but he also experimented with narrative structure and point of view.

Beyond the detective series, Himes wrote several non-genre novels, including Pinktoes (1961) and Run Man Run (1966), as well as two volumes of autobiography, The Quality of Hurt (1972) and My Life of Absurdity (1976). His work has been compared to that of Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison, but his use of popular forms set him apart.

Himes's early prison writings were published in Esquire and other magazines, but he later disowned some of them. He also wrote a screenplay for the 1971 film Come Back, Charleston Blue, based on his novel The Heat's On, though he was dissatisfied with the adaptation. In the 1960s, he lived in Spain and later in the south of France, where he died in 1984.⁴

Himes's influence extends beyond literature: his detective duo has been cited as a precursor to the "blaxploitation" films of the 1970s, and his novels have been translated into many languages. His papers are held at the Beinecke Library at Yale University, and a literary prize in his name is awarded by the Chester Himes Foundation.

Coffin Ed Johnson

A fictional black detective in Himes's Harlem series, known for his disfigured face and violent methods.

Grave Digger Jones

Coffin Ed's partner, a pragmatic and often brutal detective who enforces his own brand of justice.

Série Noire

A French crime fiction book series published by Gallimard, which published Himes's Harlem novels in translation.