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A review by cmcrockford
A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes
4.0
Jackson is the Jerry Sanchez of crime protagonists - hapless, almost lovable, and easy to shit on.
Himes is like a more poetic, less tragic Donald Goines, and maybe even more morbid and cynical. He's a stronger writer by default as an expatriate and son of a college professor too. So many nasty, near hilarious images: trunks filled with bodies and gold, men dressed as nuns in order to make a quick buck, acid-splashed crooks. The misogyny is the big sour note here and while it keeps a nice ambivalence about Imabelle's actual motives the writing there turned me off.
Himes is like a more poetic, less tragic Donald Goines, and maybe even more morbid and cynical. He's a stronger writer by default as an expatriate and son of a college professor too. So many nasty, near hilarious images: trunks filled with bodies and gold, men dressed as nuns in order to make a quick buck, acid-splashed crooks. The misogyny is the big sour note here and while it keeps a nice ambivalence about Imabelle's actual motives the writing there turned me off.