RARA-AVIS: Re: Himes

Mario Taboada (matrxtech@sprintmail.com)
Fri, 13 Mar 1998 11:58:38 +0000 [I'm resending this - my e-mail has become unreliable. Sorry if there is
a duplication]

Several of Chester Himes's novels have been reissued by Thunder's Mouth
Press, a small company out of New York city. They are good-looking trade
paperbacks. They seem to be well distributed - I have six or seven, all
bought at various non-specialist bookstores. They also issued the
complete short stories of Himes, an absorbing collection that helped me
understand him a little better. Many stories take place in prison or in
the ghetto, and are heart-wrenching in their realism and sadness, with
an extremely funny bit here and there - typical Himes touches.

There is also a brief but interesting analysis of his work, published by
Twayne (I can't remember the author right now).

Lastly, there is a short book called "A Case of Rape", published in
English by Howard University Press in the eighties - it's a masterpiece
of true crime. The writing is incandescent, as good as anything by
Willeford. I highly recommend this book (which had appeared in French
many years before).

Regards,

Mario Taboada
#
# To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to majordomo@icomm.ca.
# The web pages for the list are at http://www.vex.net/~buff/rara-avis/.