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My Life of Absurdity: The Later Years, the Autobiography of Chester Himes
In this the second volume of his autobiography, Chester Himes deals with moving to Paris in the early 1950s, where he developed from an eloquent, influential "black writer" into a writer who was internationally known. Himes takes us to the heart of Paris expatriate cafe society and through the writing of his eighteen books and novels. He also paints fascinating glimpses of
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Paperback
,
391 pages
Published
December 31st 1998
by Thunder's Mouth Press
(first published November 10th 1990)
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I rarely am interested enough in a public figure to read more than a short overview about their lives (read: Wikipedia). But, there was something in Himes' crime series that fascinated me and made me curious about the man. The only way I can describe this something is beautiful violence. The brutality of it very real, but a rhythm, construction and vocalization to it that strangely sits as a work of art. And these were his potboilers.
Reading this second portion of his autobiography, I don't thi ...more
Reading this second portion of his autobiography, I don't thi ...more
It's not like I need to like a person to like their writing. And I think Chester Himes is a good writer, although this is the first thing of his that I have read. Having said that, I now want to go read his detective stories, and also the first half of his autobiography. But I did not like him, at least in the first half of this book.
It may have been picking up his life story halfway through. More likely, it was the way he treated his German girlfriend Marlene. His descriptions of her are so ugl ...more
It may have been picking up his life story halfway through. More likely, it was the way he treated his German girlfriend Marlene. His descriptions of her are so ugl ...more
This book was kind of a hot mess. I understand why my professor assigned it, but it was pretty horrible. Not poorly-written or particularly ignorant, but horrible in the sense of the movie 'Kids' -- eloquently done with distasteful subject matter. When I realized (and wrote a paper exploring) that the book can be read as an existentialist text, I appreciated it more. But I liked it no better.
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Chester Bomar Himes began writing in the early 1930s while serving a prison sentence for armed robbery. From there, he produced short stories for periodicals such as Esquire and Abbott's Monthly. When released, he focussed on semi-autobiographical protest novels.
In 1953, Himes emigrated to France, where he was approached by Marcel Duhamel of Gallimard to write a detective series for Série Noire , ...more
More about Chester Himes...
In 1953, Himes emigrated to France, where he was approached by Marcel Duhamel of Gallimard to write a detective series for Série Noire , ...more
