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Big Gold Dream [Paperback]

Chester Himes (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)


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Book Description

August 5, 1975
Chester Himes, the greatest hardboiled crime writer since Raymond Chandler, is back in print with Pegasus Books.

After arriving on the American literary scene with novels of scathing social protest like If He Hollers Let Him Go and The Lonely Crusade, Chester Himes created a pioneering pair of dangerously effective African-American sleuths, Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson, Harlem's toughest detective duo, must carry the day against an absurdist world of racism and class warfare.

The Big Gold Dream is the explosive and shocking hardboiled classic that explores the shadowy underbelly of New York as a urban civil war erupts on the side streets of Harlem, pitting murderers and prostitutes against corrupt politicians and racist white detectives. Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson attempt to maintain some kind of order—in the neighborhood they have sworn to protect—in a world gone mad around them.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Himes is a writer with an enormous capacity to record sensuous life as it is experienced from one moment to the next.” —New York Times
 
“Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones roar into action in a case on the raging streets of Harlem . . . Chester Himes is the best writer of mayhem yarns since Raymond Chandler.” —San Francisco Chronicle
 
“One of the most important writers since Richard Wright.” —St. Louis Dispatch
 
“Pungent, violent, and mordantly funny.” —Newsweek
 
“Outrageous, shocking, wonderful.” —New York Times Book Review
--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

About the Author

Chester Himes is the author of numerous novels, short stories, essays, and film scripts. He began writing while serving a prison term for jewel robbery in the early 1940s. He emigrated to France in 1953, then to Spain where he made his home until his death in 1984. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

  • Paperback
  • Publisher: Signet; First Edition edition (August 5, 1975)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0451066383
  • ISBN-13: 978-0451066381
  • Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,101,987 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Above and beyond with Grave Digger and Coffin Ed!, July 4, 2000
From start to finish Chester takes you up, down and around Harlem with a rollicking hunger for action and mahem that no other writer can match. No one can beat Himes for his quick and pungent study of character and personality. He possesses a gift for weaving details into a break-neck romp of action and interaction that no other writer can touch. Starting with the exaulted voice of Sweet Prophet Brown on steamy 117th Street in Harlem searching for the truth and the money through an astonishing series of events that allows us a slice of history we will only find with this gifted writer. He'll make you laugh when you know you shouldn't and introduce you to people you'll never meet. Follow his lead. You won't forget or regret!
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A guilty pleasure, May 13, 2008
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How good is Himes? I keep reading his books despite all the recurring flaws such as anti-Semitism, weak endings, and one-dimensional female characters. The storytelling keeps me coming back for more.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
colored detectives, pickup men, religious trance, pickup man, big cop, precinct station
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Grave Digger, Sweet Prophet, The Lord, Alberta Wright, Sugar Stonewall, Lieutenant Anderson, Seventh Avenue, Elder Jones, Lenox Avenue, Homicide Bureau, Third Avenue, Sergeant Frick, Eighth Avenue, Slick Jenkins, Sister Wright, Coffin Ed, Sergeant Ratigan, Rufus Wright, Jesus Christ, Manhattan Avenue, Mammy Stormy, Harlem River, George Clayborne, Medical Examiner, Fifth Avenue
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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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