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Cotton Comes to Harlem
 
 

Cotton Comes to Harlem (Paperback)

~ Chester Himes (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

List Price: $13.00
Price: $9.36 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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  Hardcover, March 31, 1994 $9.56 $7.13 $7.64
  Paperback, November 27, 1988 $9.36 $6.99 $3.28
  Mass Market Paperback, November 30, 1987 -- -- $34.95
  Textbook Binding, May 31, 1975 -- -- $6.49

Frequently Bought Together

Cotton Comes to Harlem + Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx + Three Famous Short Novels: Spotted Horses  Old Man  The Bear
Price For All Three: $28.12

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  • This item: Cotton Comes to Harlem by Chester B. Himes

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  • Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc

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    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • Three Famous Short Novels: Spotted Horses Old Man The Bear by William Faulkner

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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)

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)

    Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

    #6 in  Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > African American > Himes, Chester
    #6 in  Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( H ) > Himes, Chester

More About the Author

Chester B. Himes
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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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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.

...

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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.
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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.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Good fun, though not the strongest in the series
More good fun from Chester Himes. On the plus side, he finally includes some entertaining sex. On the other hand, one of the main bad guys here (the "Colonel") is particularly... Read more
Published 18 months ago by RaDadIndy

5.0 out of 5 stars More Hard Boiled than the movie, a ripping read!
Chester B. Himes wrote a series of "Hard Boiled" detective novels set in Harlem during the the 1950's and 60's. Read more
Published on May 12, 2002 by Steven R. Harbin

5.0 out of 5 stars It's thems, the nasty 'licemens!
The dialogue, the action, the characters, it's Harlem world and it's all here! What else do you want?
Published on August 15, 2001 by Carlos I. Camacho González

5.0 out of 5 stars Chester Himes at His Best
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. Read more
Published on August 12, 2001 by Kent Braithwaite

5.0 out of 5 stars One Of The Very Best By Chester Himes.
Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones are New York City police detectives assigned to Harlem. Both are highly valued by their boss for their unique skills and much respected by... Read more
Published on December 7, 2000 by Peter Kenney

5.0 out of 5 stars Twisty mystery features two hard boiled cops.
This is an excellent book, well written with a great plot line. The two cops seek justice and they get it any way they can. Read more
Published on June 16, 1999

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than the movie
This book blew me away. If you like Harlem this book is for you. Read them all. I'm on my 5th book by Mr.Himes.
Published on January 23, 1999 by Johnny Neal

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