The Big Gold Dream

by Chester Himes

Book Overview

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. 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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1933648848
• ISBN13: 9781933648842
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Pegasus Books
• Length: 158 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A guilty pleasure

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.

Above and beyond with Grave Digger and Coffin Ed!

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!