chester himes

Why this picture?  Of course Evan S Connell died this week and that is a sad as it can get.  But his greatest books, Mr. Bridge and Mrs. Bridge aren't shown here.  They're here somewhere, but there are are a lot of pictures.

But here are some pictures of Chester Himes, and he's fun to talk about no matter what he writes.  Plan B is a fantastic book don't you think? It is both desperate and at the same time calmly and quietly damning and sarcastic.  And Pinktoes, god what a book.  It seemed almost impossible when I read it, but that was then, and now is now.  A Case of Rape is so sad, so straight.  Yesterday Will Make You Cry  makes you just go why did they screw around with his writing?  What were they thinking?

And look Plan B sits next to Russell Hoban's The Mouse and It's Child, another book that touched me deeply when I read it and it sits next to The Wind in The Willows, a book which taught me it is alright to be be Toad.

And by the way, let's settle this.  Who is Beauregard James?  Is he Chester Himes Incognito?  One of you bright young things must know.