Chester Himes American writer Date of Birth: 29.07.1909 Country: USA

1. Biography of Chester Himes
2. Selected Bibliography

Biography of Chester Himes

Chester B. Himes, an American writer, was born on July 29, 1909, in Jefferson City, Missouri, USA. He grew up in poor neighborhoods where racial relations reminded them of their skin color. Chester recalls how one day his younger brother Joseph, while conducting chemical experiments in the school laboratory, suffered a facial burn from an explosion. However, the nearest clinic, where they took the almost blinded boy, refused to treat him based on his skin color.

After completing school, Chester spent several months in university but was eventually expelled. In late 1928, Himes was arrested and sentenced to 20 years of hard labor for armed robbery. While in prison, he began writing stories that were accepted and published in national magazines. In 1934, Himes was transferred to a lighter regime prison, and in 1936, he was released on parole, replacing imprisonment with conditional release. Himes spent part of the day doing community work, dedicating the rest of his time to writing novels and stories.

In the 1940s, Himes spent some time in Los Angeles, where he worked as a screenwriter and published two novels. However, despite his successful career, he was constantly plagued by conflicts arising from racism. The author suffered greatly from these experiences and eventually decided to move to France, where his novels gained great popularity and where he hoped to escape persecution due to his skin color. In Paris, Himes met his love, Leslie Packard, who became his second wife and lived with him until the end of his life. She took care of Himes and helped him after he suffered a stroke in 1959. Their relationship was characterized by passion and great humor.

Himes' works were written in various genres, including hard-boiled detective fiction, crime novels, political polemics, and exploration of racism in the USA. His debut novel, "If He Hollers Let Him Go," written while in prison, was not published for 10 years. One of the possible reasons for rejection was the overt descriptions of homosexual relationships. After his release, Himes rewrote the novel to have it narrated in the first person. Many critics consider Himes to be a successor to Chandler and Hammett.

The most famous series by the American author was the novels about the Harlem police detectives, Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones. Several of Himes' novels were adapted into films. Chester Himes spent his last years with his wife and died on November 12, 1984.

Selected Bibliography

• "If He Hollers Let Him Go" (1945)
• "Lonely Crusade" (1947)
• "Cast the First Stone" (1952)
• "The Third Generation" (1954)
• "The End of a Primitive" (1955)
• "For Love of Imabelle" or "The Five-Cornered Square" (1957)
• "A Rage in Harlem" (1957)
• "The Real Cool Killers" (1959)
• "The Crazy Kill" (1959)
• "The Big Gold Dream" (1960)
• "All Shot Up" (1960)
• "Run Man Run" (1960)
• "Pinktoes" (1961)
• "Cotton Comes to Harlem" (1965)
• "Blind Man with a Pistol" (1969)
• "Black on Black" (1973)
• "A Case of Rape" (1980)
• "Plan B" (1993)
• "Yesterday Will Make You Cry" (1998)