- Paperback: 232 pages
- Publisher: Canongate Crime; New edition edition (12 Sep 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1841950246
- ISBN-13: 978-1841950242
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 11 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 364,024 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
A Rage in Harlem (Penguin Modern Classics)
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Product Description
Product Description
Jackson is so unhip that he can't see through the scam he's being offered. After losing his life's savings to a con artist, he steals from his boss, and begins his descent into the less-savoury aspects of life in Harlem. This was Himes' first foray into crime fiction.
From the Back Cover
To be square in Harlem is to risk your life. And Jackson is so square he can't see through the lovely Imabelle, even when she introduces him to a man who knows the 'secret' of turning $10 bills into $100s. Soon Jackson is losing his life-savings to this con man, stealing money from his boss and then blowing this 'borrowed' money on the crap tables.
So begins Chester Himes' first foray into crime fiction, the novel which was to win him massive international acclaim.
A Rage In Harlem introduces readers to Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones, Harlem's toughest cops and Himes' most memorable fictional creations. Renowned for their meanness and always armed with their legendary nickel-plated Colts, they patrol the streets of the ghetto trying to keep some semblance of order.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gritty and graphic, funny and farcical.,
By
This review is from: A Rage in Harlem (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
A Rage in Harlem is the first in a series of nine novels that make up Chester Himes' Harlem Detective series. It is a very well-written, entertaining book, interwoven with violence, humour and farce in equal measure.
The main character, Jackson is in love with a beautiful woman called Imabelle. She introduces him to a get rich quick scheme involving turning ten dollar bills into hundreds. It's a trap, he ends up losing all his money and his tribulations escalate as he attempts to get himself out of trouble. Racial tensions in Harlem around that time are clear from the narrative, but the story doesn't get bogged down with these. The white police are portrayed as overtly racist and black people conform to stereotypes in order to outwit them. The book certainly does throw a spotlight on the seedier side of life, with views of squalor, drug taking, gambling, desperation and hopelessness, but the humour lightens this considerably. The most entertaining moments in my opinion come from Jackson's brother, Goldy, who makes a living posing as a nun begging for alms, while passing on information to the police. When cornered, Goldy misquotes scripture to hilarious effect. I highly recommend this book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A True Classic,
By
This review is from: A Rage in Harlem (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
Jackson is a poor man who works for an undertaker, H Exodus Clay. And he is the sort of person who, in trying to solve a problem, only makes it worse. His problems begin when he is taken in by con men who relieve him of what little money he has, blowing up his landlady's oven in the process. Since the con leads to him paying off a fake Federal Agent with money stolen from his employer, things quickly go from bad to worse. And his refusal to believe that his woman, Imabelle, could be involved, while touching, doesn't help much either.
Jackson is an innocent surrounded by people on the make. One of those is his brother Goldy, who dresses up as Sister Gabriel, a Sister of Mercy, and relieves shoppers entering Blumstein's store of as much change as he can. In return he is liberal with quotations from the Book of Revelation, some of them made up by himself. (He suspects the author was high on drugs when he wrote it, symptoms he can recognise from his own experience.) Goldy also has a sideline in tickets for a dollar a time - ADMIT ONE, SISTER GABRIEL. Since he doesn't say in so many words that the admission is to heaven he isn't technically committing an offence. As Jackson's troubles multiply he turns to two people for help. One is the Reverend Gaines, with whom he prays. The other is his brother, who quickly realises that Jackson is being played for a sucker by all concerned, including Imabelle, the love of his life. Goldy also figures out that the con men are working on a second, bigger con involving the finding of a lost gold mine. Imabelle is involved in this one too. The plot moves rapidly, and has elements of farce about it, though the comedy is hard-edged. The story is intricately plotted, but very successfully. The dialogue is strong and some of it painfully funny. His exchanges with his landlady, both in person and over the phone, come into this category. Both are Christians, but with a differing take on the sort of behaviour this implies. Two police officers are involved, Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones. Ed has acid thrown on him by one of the con men, leaving Grave Digger to sort things out, which he does with considerable violence. They do not figure as largely in this book as they do in later titles. Though this book was first published in 1957, it easily stands comparison with contemporary crime fiction. There are no serial killers with weird motivations, there are no technicians pouring over crime scenes with hi-tech gear. Instead we have a large cast of characters, a great deal of local colour, a fast-moving story and quality dialogue.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Rage in Harlem,
By
This review is from: A Rage in Harlem (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
A Rage in Harlem was one of those phrases that stuck in my head, which I eventually remembered as the name of a movie that came out in the early 1990s. I was intrigued to see the book published as a Penguin Modern Classic.
This is book by a black writer writing in the 1950s before the Civil Rights Movement had begun to change race relations in the US. Nearly all the characters in the book are black and Harlem's squalor is described in Dickensian detail. The central characters are two brothers, Jackson, a simple rather naive individual who is smitten by his 'woman' Imabelle, and Goldy, a streetwise petty criminal who spends his entire time dressed as a sister of mercy taking aid from credulous passers by quoting biblical passages and offering prayers. He is also a stool pigeon (police informant). One interesting thing for me is that nearly every character is morally compromised. The story has its own internal logic that only appears absurd when the (white) District Attorney tries to unpick the threads when deciding how and on whom he should press charges. The story is a farcical crime caper with plenty of quite nasty violence but delivered with so much cool style. I really enjoyed it.
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