Copyright © 2000 by James Sallis
Electronic edition published in January 2012
First published in the United States of America in 2001 by
Walker Publishing Company, Inc.;
first published in Great Britain in 2000 by
Payback Press, an imprint of Canongate Books Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
“The City” by C. P. Cavafy, Collected Poems (New Jersey:
Princeton University Press, 1992), p.28 (“Wherever I turn
I see black ruins of my life”).
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
ISBN: 978-0-8027-4357-2
Sallis, James, 1944—
Chester Himes: a life / James Sallis.
p. cm.
Includes index.
1. Himes, Chester B., 1909-84. 2. Novelists,
American—20th century—Biography. 3. Afro—
American novelists—Biography. I. Title
813.’54—dc21 00-063328