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Some years ago, I remember having a conversation with a friend over the behavior of geniuses. We had seen a film showing the work of a creative person we both admired and I was appalled at the person's behavior toward a creative partner. And we ended up discussing whether genius excuses tantrums, and ranting and raving and all that. I don't think it does. ButS It's the height of arrogance and the depth of stupidity for me to try to talk about the experience of any African-American in the Unites States. I don't know what it's like to live with the pervasiveness of racism day in and day out. I will argue that due to some of my own life experiences, I have some sense of what it is like to deal with things like discrimination, like being ignored, considered second-class - some of the by-products of racism, but there is no way for me to measure the impact of this massive issue on anyone. Chester Himes dealt with this every day, from birth to death. He left the United States and lived in Spain and France much of his life (where he still faced racism, as he did in almost every country). ButS You're wondering where I'm going with all this. James Sallis has written a biography of Himes, a critical nexus in mystery fiction, although most of his work was not crime fiction. While Sallis seems sympathetic, he's also very honest about Himes, and that made this book both more difficult, and paradoxically, more tolerable to read. A lesser writer than Sallis would not have carried me through 334 pages where I was often furious with Himes, angry, frustrated, and outraged. At other times, I was fascinated. It seems that Chester Himes did not go through a day in his life where he did not feel rage. He was angry that he did not get breaks, angry that he was not perceived as a major writer, angry that he did not get what he wanted, that he was not lauded as he felt he should be. His rage expressed itself in a body of work that, well, for me, is too hard to read. Despite a love of hard-boiled detective fiction, I am, in many ways, a wimp, and Himes' portrayal of violence, his over-the-top exploration of the ugliness of many things is something I just cannot handle. That he existed, and that his work is out there is valuable and important. But I doubt I would have been able to spend a day in his presence. Himes, for many reasons, deserves attention. Those reasons do not include his anti-Semitism or his violence against women, which he seemed to believe was natural and an outcome of the conflicts of black and white behavior. While an author's characters are not necessarily the avatar of the writer, it's clear from Sallis vast research that almost all of Himes' novels were taken from his own experiences; whether it be his imprisonment, his affairs or his life as a writer. And Sallis quotes Himes from The Quality of Hurt saying The final answer of any black to a white woman with whom he lives in a white society is violence. S And the only way to make a white woman listen is to pop her in the eye, or any woman for that matter. But it is presumed only right and justifiable for a black man to beat his own black woman when they need it. But how much more does a black man's white woman need itS (CH: A L p. 173) In another example, the lead character is describe as having "futile rages, tearing frustrations, moods of black despair, fits of suicidal depression" all of which it appears Himes dealt with throughout his life. He tried to excise his demons with words, whether it was to explain to others, to analyze, I'm not sure. Sallis does a fine job of telling Himes's story without too much judgement; he is aware of the talent this man showed but is willing to describe him as self-absorbed. He was jealous of women, although he seemed to find no fault in having affairs - sometimes more than one at the same time. He was forever borrowing money and expecting to be taken care of; yet he believed that in relationships the man was responsible for the woman. This book will not make me want to read more Himes, although I think, and expect, I'm a minority. While I did not like the man I met in this book, I read every page and just about every footnote. I did want to understand Chester Himes, although I never could find a way to do so. As a woman who has faced her entire adult life with a major strike against her (although it is not a race, which is the hardest issue to live with) I've lived with some level of anger, frustration, disappointment and contempt for those who don't get it; but I've fund the accommodation, the patience, the whatever. Mostly. Himes never did. Clearly he couldn't and who am I to say that any African-American can or should accept racism at any degree or level? Sallis says "[h]e shouted and screamed and threatened and cursed and these people just refused to understand him." He never tried a different tactic; and people are seldom convinced by being screamed at and threatened. Himes did understand, it seems, the permanent status of second-hand citizenship and tried to get past it. At the same time, he refused to take responsibility for many of his actions and behaviors. No matter how he expressed it, I don't know that anyone else said it the way Himes did. If you have ever read Chester Himes, this biography is a must. If you have considered even reading Himes, I would say "try him" and to understand him, read this book. It's not easy, Editor's Note: This review originally appeared on about.com and is reprinted here with the permission of the author.
Reviewed by Andi Shechter, December 2001
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