Cotton Comes to Harlem (Paperback)

~ Chester Himes (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The greatest find in American crime fiction since Raymond Chandler." - The Sunday Times (London)



"These books have lasting value-as thrillers, as streetwise documentaries, as chapters of black writing at its ribald and unaffected best. On every level they are simply-or rather not so simply, terrific" - The Sunday Times (London) -- Review

Review

"The greatest find in American crime fiction since Raymond Chandler." - The Sunday Times (London)



"These books have lasting value-as thrillers, as streetwise documentaries, as chapters of black writing at its ribald and unaffected best. On every level they are simply-or rather not so simply, terrific" - The Sunday Times (London)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (November 28, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394759990
• ISBN-13: 978-0394759999
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #155,618 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As gritty as Ellroy and as clever as Parker, March 29, 2002

By	Shardovan (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

... The book doesn't concern Bible Flowers. It's about the efforts of two black detectives, "Grave Digger" Jones and "Coffin Ed" Johnson, to recover $87,000 in money stolen from a con-man/storefront preacher in 1960s Harlem. Along the way, Grave Digger and Coffin Ed encounter a few murders, a southern colonel, and a 50-pound bale of cotton.

Raymond Chandler wrote that detectives must walk the mean streets, but they must not themselves be mean. Well, Grave Digger and Coffin Ed walk the mean streets just fine, but the "not being mean" part gives them trouble; they doubt the feasibility of solving a case without, say, slapping around a few witnesses or firing a few shots into a crowd. Despite the detectives' unhesitating brutality, this novel compares well to the best of Raymond Chandler and Robert B. Parker. This is due not only to the spot-on dialogue and the stark, vivid character depictions, but also the detectives' uncompromising determination to bring justice to Harlem. The plot is better, i.e., less predictable, than any of Parker's, and Himes's depiction of 1960s Harlem is so bizarre, yet compelling, that it invites comparison to Carl Hiassen's Florida rather than Chandler's LA. Add to this Himes's unique, excruciatingly honest depiction of race relations in the 1960s, and you have one of the best detective novels I have read in years.

...

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chester Himes at His Best, August 12, 2001

By	Kent Braithwaite (Palm Desert, CA) - See all my reviews

As a mystery writer with my debut novel in its initial release, I genuinely admire the works of Chester Himes. I consider COTTON COMES TO HARLEM his finest work. Deke O'Hara is a recently freed con man, and his con of a lifetime has gone bad. His take has been highjacked, and our tough urban cops Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones are on his tail (as well as the tail of everyone else involved in the con and the highjacking of the small fortune). Himes writes terrific dialog, and he captures his setting perfectly. His characters are vivdly drawn, and his plot is a fastmoving steameroller taking many unexpected twists and turns. COTTON COMES TO HARLEM is THE BOOK by Chester Himes that every mystery reader ought to read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read "rage" First, April 14, 2004

By	Donald Padou (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This novel has some of the same characters as Himes' Rage in Harlem. This is not a sequel and it is not imperitve that you read "Rage" first, but I think that you will like this book more if you have read about Coffin Ed and Gravedigger Jones in the early novel.