A Cold Fire Burning

by Nathan C. Heard

Near fine in near fine dust jacket ( a tight and clean copy, remainder line.) Hardcover first edition - New Simon & Schuster,, 1974.. Hardcover first edition -. Near fine in near fine dust jacket ( a tight and clean copy, remainder line.). First printing. Novel set in the Newark, New Jersey ghetto. In his introduction, Claude Brown (who calls this one of the most important black novels of the day) points out in his introduction the accuracy and the facility with which Heard uses black dialect; as a convicted armed robber who spent 12 years in prison, Heard knows the streets well.

168 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Born in 1946, Nathan Heard grew up in New Jersey. As a young man he was convicted of armed robbery and sent to Trenton State Penitentiary, where he wrote his first and most famous novel, Howard Street (1968).
After coming out of prison, Heard became a teacher. He has taught creative writing at Fresno State College and black literature at Rutgers University. He still lives in Newark and continues to write fiction, but the intensity of his debut remains unmatched.

Reviews

[Cody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look: I’m sitting in the goddamn international terminal at LAX, flight delayed, 12.5 hrs in air in one shot once takeoff. Book? This book? ANY book? Unless it’s the religious gospel you subscribe to, or the biography of my heroism in this doomed flight, I say MEH. MAH. Still better as a tree.

I also have a hard time with any book that uses the following terms seriously: pussylips; my hard slab of black meat; fuzzy joybox; you get the picture. A lot here, but schizophrenic execution. Yes, I realize that is intentional.

But I am going to board and die now. Or not. Read this: we’ll chat it up in Paradise.

Avenge me!

X

[Robert Knowles · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book explodes with passion and sexual language. It carries a nuanced political and racial message, but is ultimately most successful in conveying the frustrations of the time period. The narrator's voice jumps off the page and into the reader's ear--Heard's writing style is incredibly real. Though many elements of the book are strong, I felt the story could have been developed more. It felt unfinished.

[DuVay Knox · Rating 5 out of 5]

NATHAN HEARD, along wit ICEBERG SLIM, was the JUMP-OFF for BLACK PULP FICTION aka BLAXPLOITATION novels in da 60s. COLD FIRE BURNING is dat joint where he shows He cumming wit dat INSTITUTIONALIZED purview of Hard Times, Penitentiary Thinking, Fucking White Girls dat Niggaz was Rassling wit in da 60s wile still tryna SPEEK TRUTH TO POWER. Meanwile: RENT DUE n U tryna figger out HOW to BEAT DA MAN so U kan git a piece-a-da-Pie/feelmee?? Memba: da 5,000 Pound Elephant in da Living Room is da Unspoken fack dat WHITE PUSSY Brought Down Da Revolution. All HEARD shit hit hard n makes U uncomfortable cuz it diggs so deep into da ASS of RACISM and RACISTS. His story is bout da Struggle so many BLACK MEN have: how to maintain DIGNITY in da FACE of simply jes tryna make a DOLLAR outta 50-cents....or whats da answer to surviving when U R jes outta da PEN butt gotta ADJUST?? And while dis area of issues is STEREOTYPED now, HEARD'S books were among da 1st to really address da shit. Go STRATE or Go CROOKED, Mah Nigga?? Say Wut??!! Yet, among DESTITUTION u find RESTITUTION and REDEMPTION (if only U kan jes git ya mind rite). Heard could truly write DIALOGUE n INTERIOR MONOLOGUE, too--and git U inside da Mind of a BROTHA hoping n praying for RITEOUS UNDERSTANDING. Wen I read this book, i WAS dis Nigga/struggling wanting to DO RITE butt often knowing DOING RONG was a WAY OUT, too. Yeah, baby. Da VERBIAGE was TRIAGE to mah EMOTIONS/heahmee??!! HEARD was a PIONEER in GITTING IT OUT Da DIRT of HURT--and this is one of the Main reasons I konsider him a MENTORFLUENCE on mah Own writing. When u know whenceforth a Muthafucka is cumming frum U develop a JONES for they WRITING/and ADDICTION to they SENTience, knowutimtombout. If U wanna know BLACK PULP FICTION and hole a SKELETON KEY for BLAXPLOITATION u absoulutely MUST start wit NATHAN HEARD. Dats JOB ONE.

[rndgmoat · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book from a historical perspective, this is a precursor of contemporary "urban fiction" or "street lit" and is in the same genre and feel as Iceberg Slim's "Pimp." Although this book had pulp elements, it also has real literary worth in the way that it documents black alienation in a 1970s urban setting.

Our protagonist, Shadow, is black but not radical; like many crime fiction leads, he floats slightly above his surroundings and mostly exists to challenge the attitudes of those around him with ironic commentary. He's skeptical of separatists, mocks local hoods who are more gangsta than revolutionary, and mostly just wants to do his own thing and go his own way.

Shadow's life trajectory changes, however, when he rescues Terri, a white woman, from gang rape at the hands of a few "revolutionary" figures who claim that such an act has political overtones. He and Terri have an explicitly described coupling, but separate when they are unable to overcome their racial differences. Their conflict drives Shadow down the path of leading the above described "revolutionaries" and, ultimately, being forced to make a choice about where his loyalties lie.

The book is written in an economical pulp style but also betrays a good deal of wit and sophistication beneath these stylistic affectations. Overall, I thought it was an interesting and quick read. However, I can't imagine this book being seen as anything more than a historical curiosity given it's very difficult to swallow gender dynamics. Shadow rapes and beats Terri; these are, in the context of the book, actions that could be seen as symbolic in intent. Buuuut it makes for a pretty tough read at points.