1st from himes for me...blind man with a pistol, chester himes, 1969...this version paperback, a 1989 printing...first vintage books edition, december 1989191 story-pages long.a preface"a friend of mine, phil lomax, told me this story about a blind man with a pistol...and thought further that all unorganized violence is like a blind man with a pistol."--chester himesand this reader thought that all violence w/a pistol is organized, may it do ya fine, the deuce coupe de diablo. cue the fat lady.there is a foreword"motherfucking right, it's confusing; it's a gas, baby, you dig."--a harlem intellectualthere's two quotes on a white page:i know what you want.how you know that?just lookin at you.cause i'm white?tain't that. i got the eye.you think i'm looking for a girl.chops is your dish.not pork.naw.not overdone.naw. just right.and:"blink once, you're robbed," coffin ed advised the white man slumming in harlem."blink twice, you're dead," grave digger added dryly.story begins:on 119th street there had been a sign for years in the front window of an old dilapidated three-storey brick house, announcing: funerals performed.okee dokee then, as the good doctor said, (the loud-ass nigger, 1978)...onward & upwardtime place scene setting*harlem: various locations around harlem*119th street, an old dilapidated 3-storey brick house*july 15th, getaway day, nat turner day*united tabacco, n.w. corner of 125th st & 7th ave*the theresa building...where the sissies gather at a lunch counter*125th/ 7th ave...the mecca of harlem*chicken auto insurance ...2nd ave/125th st*the five spot...a kind of night club. on st. mark's place*texas hotel near 125th st station*buttercup's chicken shack*123rd street...where the white man w/no pants dies*paradise inn, 135th & 7th ave*135th st precinct*a large middle-class housing development*kitchenette apartments*the temple of black jesus, 116th street*silver-moon greasy spoon*acey-duecy's poolroom*acme realty, lower broadway knickerbocker bldg*amsterdam apartments 126th between madison and 5th*alicante hotel, next to the five spot, next to the arabian nights baths*cooper square precinct station on lafayette*the dagger club called "bulldagger's" club*black art bookstore on 7th*blind man dice game at fo-fo's "sporting gentlemans club"characters*nuns*2 cops. both white*a fat black man...bubber, the cretin*a black nun, buttercup*other black nuns*50 children...a horde of naked black children*a very old man dressed in a spotted long-sleeved white gown, the reverend sam...has eleven wives, is a mormon, looking for the 12th wife, fertile, him and the wives...he is around a hundred years old give or take*sissies at the theresa building*the black driver...of a cab/taxi*a heavyset serious man...who leaves the sissies lunch counter at the theresa bldg*reinforcements from the harlem precinct station*sergeant of detectives*twelve cops*3 female bodies in the basement/dirt cellar, 119th street*the waiter*seymour rosenblom, of the auto insurance place*marcus mackenzie, a serious man, 2 years u.s. army/germany, a preacher or sorts...*48 of them...marchers for marcus, black & white*pansies and protitutes...ordinary bar drinkers...strangers in the area, johns and squares, muggers and sneak theieves*the black youth driving the old dodge car*a swede woman, birgit*a number of sycophants*buttercup*a fattish erudite white man*gravedigger jones, negro detective*coffin ed johnson, negro detective...one of the distinguishing features of coffin ed is the grafted skin on his face from a burn by acid that some bad guy threw at him. that, and he has a daughter called "sugartit" that is also the name of another minor character in the story*a black man in a black ensemble w/a red fez...who may or may not be jesus baby...focus again or the lack thereof...blindness and what have you*a bareheaded white man...no pants...who turns out later in the story to have the name richard henderson, a producer of new plays in off-broadway theaters...was looking for some homosexual action when he was murdered by knife*lt anderson...jones' and johnson's immediate boss, next in chain, line*h. exodus clay, an undertaker brother*doctor mubuta*dick, anny, viola, sugartit, van raff*johnson x*a crowd of harlem citizens*a high-yellow chick w/bright red hair*tall slim black man w/smooth carved features and etched hair*the comely young brownskinned miss*one conk-haired joker in a long-sleeved red silk shirt*young women collecting*a buxom stern-faced, gray-haired matron clad in a black dress uniform, sister z*police*few white motorists*two dangerous-looking black men*a portly gray-haired black male*two slender clerics**doctor moore*a chauffeur "b"...no, "c" as "b" is dead*assistant medical examiner, sgt from homocide, assistant district attorney, photographer, joe--detective 1st grade, ambulance drivers, vacant-faced patrol-car cops & 15 white officers & 4 colored patrol-car cops*ted, another named cop*sister berry, a buxom light-complexioned woman*a pajama-clad brother*annie, a white chick*mildred, the little white tramp*dick, annie's husband...mister sam's son*syndicate boss*dusty fletcher...from an interlude*a chickenshit pimp & a two-dollar whore*a whiskey happy joker, a cook, an old man stealing bbq from another old man cooking/grilling it, half-naked black people*the prophet ham...general ham*reverend duke...made a colonel by the prophet ham who is a general*a buxom white woman*sgt ryan, ted the photographer, fingerprint crew, 4 detectives*mr and mrs tola onan ramsey...bee is the missus*mr and mrs socrates x hoover...poon is the missus*mr and mrs booker t washington....the three couples are witness who saw nothing heard nothing so on so forth*the super, a west indian, lucas covey*mr shelton, bldg manager for acme realty*lester chambers, rent collector for acme...both white*ted/stan, two cops*john babson, who may or may not be jesus baby, the killer of the white man w/no pants...and he is also a cook/counterman at the sissy lunch counter, a "prissy brown-skinned counterman w/shiny conked curls"*captain brice*deke o/malley, who escaped from the jail, a kind of aside to the telling*three distinct groups of marchers*a bare-legged black youth, a bare-legged white youth, a very handsome young man of sepia color, thinly clad black girls, a devout christian drunk, weedheads in front of the pool hall north of 126th street*miss barbara tynes, coffin ed's wife's cousin*a big burly brother clad in blue denim overalls*slick*a fat, greasy-faced man*martha schlame, singing israeli folk songs*dom polsky nardowy...?*spokesman from 125th st offices of naacp (negroes are all colored people) and core *roy wilkins & whitney young...two names used by coffin ed and ?*angry-faced musicians*cat, one of the lesbos...mrs catherine little, husband is in business*jonas "fats" little, her husband...and there is a short vignette about his business, his success, so on so forth*dennis holman, chauffeur for white man*john babson's wife, irene...separated...a child 3-yr-old*patricia davis...one of the two lesbos...but ten pages later, her name is patricia bowles. continuity error? how else does one read it?*blind man with a gun*abie the jew*fat sam...on the subway w/the blind man, others*mr grace...at the bookstore*michael x, minister of the harlem mosque*mary-louise, mr grace's wifeupdate, finished, 21 sep 13, saturday afternoon, 5:44 p.m. e.s.t.finished...3-stars i liked it...no more no less. himes moves a pile of people around the pages...this is harlem after all. w/the story read i'm thinking, okay, parable...1969...the times. nothing's changed. good writing, descriptive and all that...not as hard to follow as some have alleged but since part of the focus seems to be a lack of focus...or a distorted lens (sight)...i can see why some think that--it is hard to follow. it's not. heh!her breasts wriggled in gilt fishnet like baby seals trying to nurse...this act put on by a lesbo trying to distract the crowd...focus again...so as her partner could slash and burn. a note on the narration3rd person multiple this...but it never gets too deeply into any character's p.o.v. this is mostly action, dialogue...there are no tortured sessions of stream-of-consciousness. himes is concerned mainly w/telling a story and if something troubles a character, they either riot, kill someone, slap someone, beat the shit out of someone, or run. himes also has sections peppered throughout called interlude...short pieces like an aside in a play. one is a kind of americana/folklore about dandruff. dandruff is the result of popcorn in the brain all fired up and leaking out.yeah, so riotsone reason provided by one character, coffin ed or gravedigger, is that a new generation believes the lies the proverbial white man tells them...expects truth or something...whereas the older generation knew the lie for what it is, a lie, an accepted it thus. the new can't accept a lie, so riots.
When a pantsless man with his throat cut dies at the feet of Coffin Ed and Grave Digger Jones, it's up to the toughest detectives in Harlem to find out who killed him. But can they solve the murder and figure out who's causing the riots that threaten to destroy Harlem?Hot Day, Hot Night, aka Blind Man with a Pistol, is more than a pulp detective story. Like Himes's other books featuring Coffin Ed and Grave Digger Jones, it's a commentary about racism and racial equality. You can definitely tell by reading it that Himes wasn't planning on writing another Harlem Detective book. This one is bleak, chaotic, and even the baddest detectives in Harlem seem to be getting tired.Chaotic would be the best way to describe the narrative. There are riots, murders, and all kinds of crazy shit. Coffin Ed and Grave Digger were just as in the dark as I was for most of it. The ending pretty much sums up the point Himes was trying to get across in the whole book: violence doesn't make sense.It's a shame Chester Himes isn't very well known. He was definitely ahead of his time.
Do You like book Blind Man With A Pistol (1989)?
Chi sia il cieco con la pistola rimane un mistero fino alla fine e onestamente anche dopo. Per un aficionado del genere hard-boiled, sotto genere 'noir fiction', non sarebbe necessariamente un problema, ma se cercate un giallo classico, questo romanzo della serie di Himes ambientata ad Harlem non c'azzecca granchè. I protagonisti sono due detective neri in una Harlem nera, dove tutte le vacche sono nere, Ed 'la bara' e John 'scavafosse'. E i nomi sono invece appropriatissimi: hanno un fare quasi da becchini, tra la rassegnazione alla violenza del ghetto e la disillusione di una fine carriera, la cui onestà non sarà - e lo sanno bene - ricompensata se non con un'indifferenza condita dalla reputazione di servi dell'ordine costituito e fascisti. Continua su http://ghettodeilettori.blogspot.com/...
—La Stamberga dei Lettori
Harlem, a summer in the late 1960s: temperatures are sweltering, and its residents are becoming more agitated and tense, fueled by a series of protests and violent murders that threaten to tear the neighborhood's fragile structure apart. Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones, two of NYC's finest detectives, are called upon to solve these crimes and help restore order. The two encounter a variety of odd and unsavory characters, including a preacher who claims to be 100 years old and the father of innumerable children by the "nuns" who share a squalid flat with him, and an inscrutable gay counterman at a restaurant on 125th Street who knows far more than he will admit to. Despite their efforts, the tension and violence progressively escalate, as former allies become hated enemies.The title of this book refers to Himes' comment about unorganized violence in the black community, fueled by community leaders that urged black men to act, often recklessly. I found this novel to be disjointed and difficult to follow, which made for an unpleasant read. I understand that his earlier novels are better than this one, particularly If He Hollers Let Him Go: A Novel, so I'll try Himes again in the near future.
—Darryl
At some point, my optimism and I have to part ways; it’s either sadistic or I’m a dumbass who can’t even learn as well as a pigeon or both. I’ve looked forward to this book for several months and even after it became clear it was a disappointment I kept reading on the off-chance it would get better (peck the right disc, dumbass!). But nope. The characters are flat. The book is vulgar without wit, like a teenager who mutters “cock” at the dinner table and then looks around to see if he can have the satisfaction of disapproval. Nothing is fleshed out (except for the descriptions of massive tangles of pubic hair) or pursued, which would be okay if the writing was good enough to sustain nothing, but it isn’t, not by a long shot. What I imagine is supposed to be commentary on American racial relations is about what you’d expect from a lazy high schooler’s term paper. In short, this book sucks and I suck for actually finishing it.By the way, if racial (and gender) slurs offend you (those for both blacks and whites), then for the love of the white patriarchy’s sky god, don’t read this book.
—Mike
