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A review by mnboyer
Cotton Comes to Harlem by Chester Himes
4.0
Get ready for a lot of mother-raping and cotton bale seduction.
This is an interesting African-American crime/detective novel that reads similar to pulp fiction of the 1920s. The story involves Deke, a criminal pretending to take money from African-American families so that they can buy passage on a ship back to Africa, where they'll become farmers. Clearly, he just wants to steal their money and bail (pun intended). However, before he can run off with the money, it gets stolen by a Colonel that wants to use the money to pay African-American families to return to the South in order to pick cotton. Enter two detectives that are going to get to the bottom of things and return the money to the hard working families that had invested in the idea of returning to Africa. And, of course, enter two ladies in love with Deke that are sexualized--then, later, enter another woman that is a lesbian with one of Deke's love interests (no, really, this happens!).
I was on the border of giving this 3 or 4 stars and decided to round upwards. The story itself is a bit far fetched, but I suppose that made it interesting. I was not a fan of some of the violence against women (inflicted both by the detectives, other women, etc.) but it added a touch of realism. The book just lost me towards the end--especially when Sorry, but Himes lost me there. Don't get me started on the last three pages of the book... a complete let down (almost worthy of three stars). But because this was a quick read that kept me interested I decided to round up and give four stars for creativity.
This is an interesting African-American crime/detective novel that reads similar to pulp fiction of the 1920s. The story involves Deke, a criminal pretending to take money from African-American families so that they can buy passage on a ship back to Africa, where they'll become farmers. Clearly, he just wants to steal their money and bail (pun intended). However, before he can run off with the money, it gets stolen by a Colonel that wants to use the money to pay African-American families to return to the South in order to pick cotton. Enter two detectives that are going to get to the bottom of things and return the money to the hard working families that had invested in the idea of returning to Africa. And, of course, enter two ladies in love with Deke that are sexualized--then, later, enter another woman that is a lesbian with one of Deke's love interests (no, really, this happens!).
I was on the border of giving this 3 or 4 stars and decided to round upwards. The story itself is a bit far fetched, but I suppose that made it interesting. I was not a fan of some of the violence against women (inflicted both by the detectives, other women, etc.) but it added a touch of realism. The book just lost me towards the end--especially when