First published 1995
Chester Himes sits down to examine the wounds that shaped him. Born in Missouri, he traces his path from a middle-class childhood through prison time for armed robbery to his emergence as a novelist. Himes confronts the racism that blocked his literary career in America and drove him to exile in Europe. He recalls his struggles with publishers who wanted him to soften his portrayals of Black life, his battles with alcoholism, and his complex relationships with women. The autobiography reveals how personal pain and social injustice fed his fiction, including his acclaimed Harlem detective novels featuring Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones. Himes writes with brutal honesty about the price of being a Black artist in a white-dominated literary world. His story captures the rage and resilience that fueled his groundbreaking crime fiction and serious novels alike.
Genres: 20th-century, african-american, autobiography, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: memoir, resilience
Setting: America, Europe, Missouri
Period: 20th-century
360 pages · Paperback · Da Capo Press
Content warnings: racism, violence