All God's Chillun Got Pride

by Chester Himes

Best known for his hardboiled Harlem Detective series, Chester Himes was also a superb literary writer, beginning his creative life by writing short stories in the 1930s while serving jail time for armed robbery. Selected here are some of his best stories – from a satirical tale about a student bet that purportedly disproves the existence of racism in Los Angeles to a chilling drama in which a snake invades a family home.

160 pages, Paperback

Published April 17, 2025

About the author

Chester 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.

Reviews

[Katie Singer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never read Himes' detective novels but these short stories set in 1930s LA are dark, gritty and funny at the same time. A true storyteller.

[Seamus May · Rating 4 out of 5]

This often gets said about short stories, but these really were like modern day fables. Noir-ish modern day fables on the emotional labour of facing racism; human dignity; crime and punishment and the drudgery of work. These are stories mostly about individual men that vividly reflect the society of the time, and continue to illuminate our own time.

In this short collection, Himes displays virtuosity of style and genre, and a great eye for the twist. My favourites were the first story 'Headwaiter', the title story and 'the Snake'.

Probably more of a 3.5 stars but I have a day off today and am in the giving vein.

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Archive #2

4.5
Vivid, lurid tales.

Chester Himes made his fame as a crime writer, but the stories included in this book seem to focus more on the black experience of 20th century America, with elements of surrealism (cuddling with alligators in prison, vengeful married snakes) peppered in to a nice effect. Himes' writing is sharp, focused, witty, and also startingly bleak at times. In just a few stories, he explores such a rich variety of viewpoints, emotions and experiences, all of them nuanced and believable.

Really unlike anything I have read before!

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Chester Himes Harlem detectives series, so cool funky, funny and brutal, and it turns out that his literary fiction is just as good. This is a set of short stories put together for the penguin archive 90 series. Very good indeed.