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The Primitive
Chester Himes aficionados who've followed detectives Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones from one grisly Harlem crime scene to the next will find a meaner, harsher reality in The End of a Primitive. In this early work, Himes paints an angry, doomed sexual relationship between a tough-guy black writer down on his luck and a wayward white party girl on a slippery slide toward addiction and abuse. Tough stuff, especially for 1955, when the novel first appeared in a bowdlerized version, and it still carries a tragic punch today, down to its classic pulp diction. Himes, a black writer who did crimes and hard time in his youth, and whose personal quest for a measure of peace finally led him to leave the United States altogether, gives the sure sense of knowing the rough turf and hopeless lives he describes.
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1956
About the author
Chester Himes
68 books509 followersChester Bomar Himes began writing in the early 1930s while serving a prison sentence for armed robbery. From there, he produced short stories for periodicals such as Esquire and Abbott's Monthly. When released, he focussed on semi-autobiographical protest novels.
In 1953, Himes emigrated to France, where he was approached by Marcel Duhamel of Gallimard to write a detective series for Série Noire, which had published works from the likes of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Jim Thompson. Himes would be the first black author included in the series. The resulting Harlem Cycle gained him celebrity when he won France's Grand Prix de Littérature Policière for La Reine des Pommes (now known in English as A Rage in Harlem) in 1958. Three of these novels have been adapted into movies: Cotton Comes to Harlem, directed by Ossie Davis in 1970; Come Back, Charleston Blue (based on The Heat's On) in 1972; and A Rage in Harlem, starring Gregory Hines and Danny Glover in 1991.
In 1968, Himes moved to Spain where he made his home until his death.
In 1953, Himes emigrated to France, where he was approached by Marcel Duhamel of Gallimard to write a detective series for Série Noire, which had published works from the likes of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Jim Thompson. Himes would be the first black author included in the series. The resulting Harlem Cycle gained him celebrity when he won France's Grand Prix de Littérature Policière for La Reine des Pommes (now known in English as A Rage in Harlem) in 1958. Three of these novels have been adapted into movies: Cotton Comes to Harlem, directed by Ossie Davis in 1970; Come Back, Charleston Blue (based on The Heat's On) in 1972; and A Rage in Harlem, starring Gregory Hines and Danny Glover in 1991.
In 1968, Himes moved to Spain where he made his home until his death.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
October 7, 2020
Chester Himes will always be criminally underrated to me. His bibliography – from If He Hollers Let Him Go to Pinktoes to his gritty Harlem detective series – absolutely punches at the same weight as his contemporaries like Wright and Baldwin. He brings to his writing an unvarnished, sardonic, raw style borne out of his childhood traumas and eight years served behind bars.
That said, I found The End of a Primitive one of his more uneven works. It blends some of Himes's exploration of interracial, as well as non-heterosexual, sex and love (which is more fully realized in Pinktoes) with his blunt excoriation of racism in America and its psychological toll on Black Americans (which is at its most white-hot in If He Hollers Let Him Go). Himes often couches these themes in the narratives of broken-down, street-wise protagonists, and that's no different here. As our aging, disillusioned femme fatale Kriss laments, "it wasn't her fault, she reasoned, that she was sterile, diseased and rapidly becoming an alcoholic," (p. 133).
Himes shines as a shot-by-shot storyteller of drunken, debaucherous benders. His claustrophobic scenes rock with the explosive, teetering tension of a Cassavetes film – quiet conversation often erupts into violent rages. No character in this book is particularly likable. They all weaponize their own privileges (white women hurl racial epithets at Black men, men chuckle as they perpetrate domestic violence) at the toxic nexus of sex, power, and violence, as we hurtle toward a trippy and tragic homicidal climax.
That said, I found The End of a Primitive one of his more uneven works. It blends some of Himes's exploration of interracial, as well as non-heterosexual, sex and love (which is more fully realized in Pinktoes) with his blunt excoriation of racism in America and its psychological toll on Black Americans (which is at its most white-hot in If He Hollers Let Him Go). Himes often couches these themes in the narratives of broken-down, street-wise protagonists, and that's no different here. As our aging, disillusioned femme fatale Kriss laments, "it wasn't her fault, she reasoned, that she was sterile, diseased and rapidly becoming an alcoholic," (p. 133).
Himes shines as a shot-by-shot storyteller of drunken, debaucherous benders. His claustrophobic scenes rock with the explosive, teetering tension of a Cassavetes film – quiet conversation often erupts into violent rages. No character in this book is particularly likable. They all weaponize their own privileges (white women hurl racial epithets at Black men, men chuckle as they perpetrate domestic violence) at the toxic nexus of sex, power, and violence, as we hurtle toward a trippy and tragic homicidal climax.
May 26, 2011
A very tough, hard, brutal, beautiful book by Himes. Sort of a cross between If He Hollers and Pinktoes.
April 24, 2009
While reading Mike Davis’ City of Quartz, I came across a reference to Chester Himes:
After that, I had to read this man. Fortunately a friend of mine possesses three of his novels (see my To-Read shelf for the others) and lent them to me.
This first one I’ve read is a short (152 pages), intense melodrama about a white woman and a black man, neither of whom are in control of their lives, and their encounter truly ends “in a nightmare of drink and debauchery,” as the blurb says.
While there’s certainly nothing admirable about either character, Himes writes with enormous energy and readers will find themselves feeling and sympathizing with both.
I look forward to eventually getting to the other two novels on my shelf and picking up more Himes in the future.
“Up to the age of thirty-one I had been hurt emotionally, spiritually, and physically as much as thirty-one years can bear: I had lived in the South, I had fallen down an elevator shaft, I had been kicked out of college, I had served seven and one half years in prison, I had survived the humiliating last five years of the Depression in Cleveland; and still I was entire, complete, functional; my mind was sharp, my reflexes were good, and I was not bitter. But under the mental corrosion of race prejudice in Los Angeles I had become bitter and saturated with hate.” (from The Quality of Hurt)
After that, I had to read this man. Fortunately a friend of mine possesses three of his novels (see my To-Read shelf for the others) and lent them to me.
This first one I’ve read is a short (152 pages), intense melodrama about a white woman and a black man, neither of whom are in control of their lives, and their encounter truly ends “in a nightmare of drink and debauchery,” as the blurb says.
While there’s certainly nothing admirable about either character, Himes writes with enormous energy and readers will find themselves feeling and sympathizing with both.
I look forward to eventually getting to the other two novels on my shelf and picking up more Himes in the future.
January 9, 2016
To enjoy this book, is to know what literature, the hard-boiled type is all about. If you're into the gritty noir of the down and out, disenchanted, lonely men standing in doorways, beaten by pretty much everything, having to live within the constraints of a terribly white, Christian 1950's morality, creed and ethos, schtick, phrasing, then Chester Himes is your read. The End of a Primitive is a savage tale of all things gone wrong. When all things went wrong.
January 22, 2012
Kriss Cummings is a divorced, whiskey-soaked white woman nearing middle age. She has slept with somewhere in the region of two hundred men, and her wardrobe contains a high number of red dresses as she "couldn't get along in the world without feeling daring".
Jessie Robinson is a gin-soaked black man, a published writer on "black problem in America", separated from his wife and on the skids, prone to surreal and twisted soliloquys which he sometimes vocalises involuntarily.
Their paths have crossed before and do so again over a manic weekend, with tragic consequences.
I was pretty surprised by the directness and savage bitterness in this hard-hearted tale of race and sex in 1950's New York. You will be hard pushed to find feelings of racial condescension and antipathy expressed as freely and scathingly as this in a contemporary novel, let alone one from the middle of the last century.
Kriss, Jessie and their shared acquaintances are supposed to be at the forefront of integration too, but you wouldn't credit it by the harsh nature of their thoughts and behaviour towards each other.
On this evidence Himes is to Kerouac and the rest of the Beats what Chuck Berry was to Elvis.
Jessie Robinson is a gin-soaked black man, a published writer on "black problem in America", separated from his wife and on the skids, prone to surreal and twisted soliloquys which he sometimes vocalises involuntarily.
Their paths have crossed before and do so again over a manic weekend, with tragic consequences.
I was pretty surprised by the directness and savage bitterness in this hard-hearted tale of race and sex in 1950's New York. You will be hard pushed to find feelings of racial condescension and antipathy expressed as freely and scathingly as this in a contemporary novel, let alone one from the middle of the last century.
Kriss, Jessie and their shared acquaintances are supposed to be at the forefront of integration too, but you wouldn't credit it by the harsh nature of their thoughts and behaviour towards each other.
On this evidence Himes is to Kerouac and the rest of the Beats what Chuck Berry was to Elvis.
December 8, 2020
the end of a primitive is almost stage play bare in its settings, allowing focus to turn toward the claustrophobic character studies that move between the dialectics of race and sex in america, specifically the tension of interracial sex in 1950s new york and what it means to be a black man with intellect and desires during that time, and what it means to be dehumanized and ultimately what it means to be human when humanity is so brutal and cruel when you exist at the bottom of the racial power structure. himes is an assassin on a sentence by sentence basis and his dialogue is as good as anyones. this book is bold in the way it confronts these problems without varnish, using language that is tough to listen to and emotional (and physical) violence that can be hard to stomach. and it will definitely be off-putting to some people. but it's this boldness mixed with prodigious talent that makes himes the best least known writer in american letters.
May 23, 2025
alcoolisme, violence, frustration sexuelle et raciale sont les thèmes principaux abordés, ça me rappelle l'écriture de baldwin.
May 6, 2026
A hard, hard book that I cannot say I enjoyed reading. Not a Chester Himes Harlem mystery/noir novel. Rather a look at the dark side of two people with a love/ hate relationship. I liked Jesse’s writings and musings. They were clever and sometimes humorous.
September 7, 2026
The End of a Primitive (1955) by Chester Himes culminates in a shocking act of violence. At the end of the novel, the tense, whiskey-fueled weekend between Jesse Robinson, a frustrated Black writer, and Kriss Cummings, a disillusioned white woman, spirals entirely out of control. In a severe state of mutual intoxication, deep-seated racial animosity, and psychological despair. Shakespearean Parallel: The novel draws a dark parallel to Othello. Himes uses the ending to argue that the systemic racism of American society forces a violent, pattern less destiny upon its individuals rather than allowing room for true human resolution. The primary purpose of The End of a Primitive is to expose the destructive, inescapable trap of American racism and sexism by showing how societal pressures psychologically destroy individuals. Chester Himes uses the toxic relationship between Jesse and Kriss as a microcosm for the larger sickness of 1950s America.
Core Purposes of the Novel Exposing the "Primitive" Myth: Himes wrote the book to critique how white society objectifies Black men. Kriss views Jesse not as a full human being, but as an exotic, hyper-sexualized, and animalistic "primitive" whom she can patronize, control, and blame for her own failures. Critiquing Liberal Hypocrisy: The novel targets white northern liberals who claim to be progressive but still harbor deep-seated racial prejudices. Kriss’s apartment becomes a psychological battleground where her surface-level tolerance quickly devolves into overt racism when her ego is threatened. Demonstrating the Pathology of Oppression: Himes showcases how systemic oppression inflicts severe psychological trauma. Jesse is driven mad by his inability to find success as a writer in a racist publishing industry, turning his self-hatred and societal frustration outward into explosive violence. Illustrating Mutually Assured Destruction: The book serves as a grim warning that racism and sexism inevitably corrupt and destroy both the oppressor and the oppressed. Himes constructs the narrative as a pressure cooker where the combination of racial tension, sexual frustration, and heavy drinking makes a fatal explosion mathematically certain.You should read The End of a Primitive because it is one of the most raw, unfiltered, and psychologically devastating examinations of American race and gender dynamics ever written. While Chester Himes is widely celebrated for his fast-paced Harlem Detective crime novels, this book stands out as a fearless masterpiece of literary existentialism. Key Reasons to Read the Novel Uncompromising Psychological Realism: The book offers an unvarnished look at the internal damage caused by systemic oppression. Himes does not sanitize his characters or make them likable; instead, he forces you to witness the ugly, unfiltered thoughts and defense mechanisms of two deeply broken people. A Radical Blueprint for Protest Fiction: Unlike the more widely read protest novels of the era—such as Richard Wright's Native Son or James Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain—Himes completely strips away any hope for institutional or spiritual redemption. It is essential reading for anyone studying mid-century African American literature. A Masterclass in Tension and Absurdism: Himes brilliantly constricts the narrative, trapping the characters and the reader inside a claustrophobic, alcohol-soaked New York apartment. The resulting momentum feels like watching a slow-motion train wreck, illustrating how societal pressures can make tragedy feel mathematically inevitable. Deeply Revealing Autobiography: The novel is a thinly veiled, highly personal account of Himes’s own turbulent, real-life affair with a white woman named Vandi Haygood. Reading it provides profound insight into Himes’s personal anger, his exile from America, and the psychological scars he carried as a Black intellectual in the 1950s.The publication history of this novel is a stark example of mid-century American literary censorship. When Chester Himes originally finished the manuscript in 1953, his working title was The End of a Primitive. However, the book his editor warned "would bring down the roof on all of us" was systematically altered by publishers before it could see the light of day. The censorship essentially targeted three core areas of Himes's vision:1. Diluting the Political Edge and Satire The original manuscript heavily featured surreal, dark satire, including fictionalized television and radio broadcasts that ran in the background of the apartment. These broadcasts surrealistically foreshadowed the violence and mocked the absurdity of McCarthy-era American politics, consumerism, and racial hypocrisy. 1950s editors found this tone too experimental and politically volatile, choosing to cut the surrealistic elements to frame the book as a standard, straightforward pulp melodrama. 2. Sanitizing the Language and Sexuality Himes wrote a hyper-realistic, grit-and-alcohol-soaked depiction of two people psychologically unravelling. The original draft was laced with explicit profanity and raw sexual dynamics that pushed the boundaries of what 1950s censorship laws and mainstream sensibilities would allow. Publishers toned down the profanity and stripped out nuanced layers of their sexual interactions, which fundamentally flattened the complex psychological warfare Himes had constructed between Jesse and Kriss.3. Subverting the Novel's Ultimate Message The most significant act of censorship was the title change itself. By calling the book The Primitive, the publisher leaned into the very stereotype Himes was trying to deconstruct, making it sound like a sensationalist pulp novel about an inherently wild, savage man. Himes’s intended title, The End of a Primitive, signified the destruction of the stereotype itself—Jesse's tragic, violent refusal to be trapped by that label anymore. Changing the title fundamentally inverted Himes’s intent. The Restoration Deeply embittered by this creative gutting and the harsh realities of American racism, Himes left the United States for Europe in 1953. It wasn't until 1997—decades after Himes's death—that W.W. Norton finally published the fully unexpurgated, restored version of the manuscript, finally giving readers the chance to read the book exactly as Himes intended under its rightful name: The End of a Primitive.
Core Purposes of the Novel Exposing the "Primitive" Myth: Himes wrote the book to critique how white society objectifies Black men. Kriss views Jesse not as a full human being, but as an exotic, hyper-sexualized, and animalistic "primitive" whom she can patronize, control, and blame for her own failures. Critiquing Liberal Hypocrisy: The novel targets white northern liberals who claim to be progressive but still harbor deep-seated racial prejudices. Kriss’s apartment becomes a psychological battleground where her surface-level tolerance quickly devolves into overt racism when her ego is threatened. Demonstrating the Pathology of Oppression: Himes showcases how systemic oppression inflicts severe psychological trauma. Jesse is driven mad by his inability to find success as a writer in a racist publishing industry, turning his self-hatred and societal frustration outward into explosive violence. Illustrating Mutually Assured Destruction: The book serves as a grim warning that racism and sexism inevitably corrupt and destroy both the oppressor and the oppressed. Himes constructs the narrative as a pressure cooker where the combination of racial tension, sexual frustration, and heavy drinking makes a fatal explosion mathematically certain.You should read The End of a Primitive because it is one of the most raw, unfiltered, and psychologically devastating examinations of American race and gender dynamics ever written. While Chester Himes is widely celebrated for his fast-paced Harlem Detective crime novels, this book stands out as a fearless masterpiece of literary existentialism. Key Reasons to Read the Novel Uncompromising Psychological Realism: The book offers an unvarnished look at the internal damage caused by systemic oppression. Himes does not sanitize his characters or make them likable; instead, he forces you to witness the ugly, unfiltered thoughts and defense mechanisms of two deeply broken people. A Radical Blueprint for Protest Fiction: Unlike the more widely read protest novels of the era—such as Richard Wright's Native Son or James Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain—Himes completely strips away any hope for institutional or spiritual redemption. It is essential reading for anyone studying mid-century African American literature. A Masterclass in Tension and Absurdism: Himes brilliantly constricts the narrative, trapping the characters and the reader inside a claustrophobic, alcohol-soaked New York apartment. The resulting momentum feels like watching a slow-motion train wreck, illustrating how societal pressures can make tragedy feel mathematically inevitable. Deeply Revealing Autobiography: The novel is a thinly veiled, highly personal account of Himes’s own turbulent, real-life affair with a white woman named Vandi Haygood. Reading it provides profound insight into Himes’s personal anger, his exile from America, and the psychological scars he carried as a Black intellectual in the 1950s.The publication history of this novel is a stark example of mid-century American literary censorship. When Chester Himes originally finished the manuscript in 1953, his working title was The End of a Primitive. However, the book his editor warned "would bring down the roof on all of us" was systematically altered by publishers before it could see the light of day. The censorship essentially targeted three core areas of Himes's vision:1. Diluting the Political Edge and Satire The original manuscript heavily featured surreal, dark satire, including fictionalized television and radio broadcasts that ran in the background of the apartment. These broadcasts surrealistically foreshadowed the violence and mocked the absurdity of McCarthy-era American politics, consumerism, and racial hypocrisy. 1950s editors found this tone too experimental and politically volatile, choosing to cut the surrealistic elements to frame the book as a standard, straightforward pulp melodrama. 2. Sanitizing the Language and Sexuality Himes wrote a hyper-realistic, grit-and-alcohol-soaked depiction of two people psychologically unravelling. The original draft was laced with explicit profanity and raw sexual dynamics that pushed the boundaries of what 1950s censorship laws and mainstream sensibilities would allow. Publishers toned down the profanity and stripped out nuanced layers of their sexual interactions, which fundamentally flattened the complex psychological warfare Himes had constructed between Jesse and Kriss.3. Subverting the Novel's Ultimate Message The most significant act of censorship was the title change itself. By calling the book The Primitive, the publisher leaned into the very stereotype Himes was trying to deconstruct, making it sound like a sensationalist pulp novel about an inherently wild, savage man. Himes’s intended title, The End of a Primitive, signified the destruction of the stereotype itself—Jesse's tragic, violent refusal to be trapped by that label anymore. Changing the title fundamentally inverted Himes’s intent. The Restoration Deeply embittered by this creative gutting and the harsh realities of American racism, Himes left the United States for Europe in 1953. It wasn't until 1997—decades after Himes's death—that W.W. Norton finally published the fully unexpurgated, restored version of the manuscript, finally giving readers the chance to read the book exactly as Himes intended under its rightful name: The End of a Primitive.
August 23, 2015
Chester Himes’s emotional introduction reveals his bitterness about American racial society, eventually moving to France and then finally Alicante Spain. His first books were focused on black male/white female themes and do not appear to have been well-received in the US. This book was first published as “The Primitive”, a version censored by the publisher, now available here as “The End of a Primitive”, the unedited “author’s cut”. A powerful fictional account of the tragic sexual weekend in NYC of a black man and white woman, it seems quite autobiographical. Anyway, this was his last book before launching the popular Harlem detective series of Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson (whose job, by the way, was to protect innocent locals and “make Harlem safe for white people”).
July 30, 2015
This book is brutal. I had never read anything like it and couldn't believe it was from the 1950's. The language, situation...it's so NYC and touches some very uncomfortable truths. I loved every minute of it.
June 12, 2023
Fave Himes novel so far. Hilarious and well-crafted. Macabre. Absolutely scandalous for the time it was written but feels true and right. Amazing ending. The first novel I'd recommend to anyone looking to explore Chester Himes. Well, that and If He Hollers.
December 13, 2023
Ugly and cruel, without any sustained hope or tenderness - but also one of the most powerful novels about sex I've read in ages. Still prefer his detective novels, though.
June 1, 2026
Himes' 1956 novel shows us that black cock whores and queens of spades are nothing new and that white females can be as sexually exploitive and fetishistic with black men as their male counterparts are with black women.
This is an emotionally powerful book, its content not fully restored as the author intended until 1990. It is a story focusing on the carnal relationship between Jesse Robinson, an embittered black writer, and Kriss Cummings, a white professional woman who is as self-centered as she is self-destructive. Both of them seeking solace in drink and interracial lust until things come to a head on one booze soaked, debauched and violent weekend.
This is an emotionally powerful book, its content not fully restored as the author intended until 1990. It is a story focusing on the carnal relationship between Jesse Robinson, an embittered black writer, and Kriss Cummings, a white professional woman who is as self-centered as she is self-destructive. Both of them seeking solace in drink and interracial lust until things come to a head on one booze soaked, debauched and violent weekend.
January 24, 2025
My copy is simply called "The primitive" published in '55. Learned that the title has a meaning I was unhip to. A tale of a boozy, self-destructive lifestyle in reaction to racist America. Lots of pain, humor, sharp tongues, spot-on metaphors, enjoyed reading this!
July 30, 2025
This was my first Chester Himes book and it was slow and first but it has bursts of vidid imagery and intense language that kept me engaged and the end, well lol the end was amazing drama and crime forming
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February 3, 2025“…, es el comportamiento más humano de todos.”
“El finde un primitivo; el principio de un ser humano.”
“El finde un primitivo; el principio de un ser humano.”
February 23, 2025
Not one of Hime’s’ mystery books but fascinating style. I squirmed and skimmed as I read yet find myself still thinking about various parts a week after I finished it. As if the discomfort is the point and the after effect is thinking about the issues it illuminates.
November 23, 2024
Truly (and I truly do say truly too much) a split in the road between his early American heartwrenchers and later internationally-distanced crime noir, this one’s a violent allergic reaction to 1950s US-grade racism. One which pro-, retro-, and all-actively paints his life and oeuvre in a whole posi-, nega- and multi-tively new light. Had Himes just writ it and quit it, Primitive would read like the quintessential quiter’s anthem, but he conversely exploded and moved on, literally and figuratively, to differenter and independenter things, from here on out aiming one passionate eye and one middle finger back across the pond. In either scenario, this angry, drunken, wildly entertaining trip leaves us feeling a little dirty and hungover at its unhinged conclusion.
May 22, 2014
too long. should have been a short story.
not as well written as "if he hollers..." as evidenced by the ridiculous inventory-like descriptions of the two main characters early in the book. was he going for a bigger page count for some reason? It was difficult for me to finish this disappointing novel.
not as well written as "if he hollers..." as evidenced by the ridiculous inventory-like descriptions of the two main characters early in the book. was he going for a bigger page count for some reason? It was difficult for me to finish this disappointing novel.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews