What are the Chester Himes novels featuring Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones like from a reader’s perspective?
They’re favorites, but the book draws on many other influences as well. It might represent about fifteen of the twenty reference points I lean on. Himes wrote about criminals in Harlem during the fifties and sixties, so it’s natural for him to surface in the mix. The author’s inspiration comes largely from cinema: Kubrick’s flawless heist pacing, Jean-Pierre Melville’s crime films, and the grittier tone of seventies American thrillers like Dog Day Afternoon. On the literary side, Donald E. Westlake under the pen name Richard Stark created Parker as a ruthless blueprint that helped shape the protagonist Pepper’s sociopathic edge.
Was the goal to promote genre fiction, perhaps elevating it to serious literature?
No. Literature is literature. There is no division between high, middle, or low forms. Crime fiction does not need a pedestal; it stands on its own.
How does racism function among African Americans?
In much the same way it does among whites. In some European cultures, very blond hair and pale skin are prized; as tones darken, people slip into different social categories. The prejudice found in white society is echoed within black communities as well.
Did the Dumas Club exist in Harlem?
No, but there is a similar elitism. When a certain status is reached in life, clubs form to keep others out. There are associations of black businessmen, bankers, and lawyers that resemble the Dumas Club in spirit.
The main character, Ray Carner, seems more focused on economic advancement than on civil rights. Is that typical in Harlem during the sixties?
There were people with political ties and those without. If someone plans a bank robbery, the boss will say, “We’ll do it on Tuesday,” and no one will protest because Tuesday might be show day. Some worked long hours without time for politics. In 1964 Harlem, many had suffered brutal discrimination and doubted that Malcolm X or Martin Luther King would change anything. Portraying this diversity reflects a realistic portrait of Harlem’s layers.
Aren’t you being a bit sarcastic?
Harlem Rhythm centers on criminals and the criminal mindset, so it would be odd to brand its characters with grand social commitments. Still, sarcasm can be appropriate at times.
If one thing in the United States hasn’t changed, it’s police violence against Black people. Why is that so resistant to change?
Changing it would alter how people relate to one another and how they treat each other, and many don’t want to confront that shift. The United States was built on the genocide of Indigenous peoples and the enslavement of Africans. That truth remains. Today, the troubling trend is the election of leaders who advocate white supremacy, a sobering reminder that racial violence spans all corners of society, not just police forces.
It presents not just Harlem but New York as a cog driven by systemic corruption.
New York is vast and varied enough to hold every kind of story—from hopeful immigrant journeys chasing the middle‑class dream to stark portrayals of institutional rot. The city accommodates all these narratives without losing its edge.
What would an ideal night in Harlem in 1962 look like?
The writer mostly comes from downtown Manhattan, where one could catch Bob Dylan in 1962 and later hear The Velvet Underground and Jimi Hendrix. A two‑a.m. Harlem jazz club with John Coltrane or Miles Davis would be a dream setting, too.
Would Cafe Wha or the Apollo Theater be preferable for such an evening?
Musically, Cafe Wha would win out. Harlem Rhythm sits at the start of a trilogy, and Pepper’s arc continues into the seventies, with the character showing up in venues like Cafe Wha?
Has the documentary Summer of Soul, about the 1969 Harlem cultural festival, been seen?
No, but it’s generally acclaimed. The festival took place at a park that later became known as Mount Morris Park and is now Marcus Garvey Park, marking a significant moment in Harlem’s cultural memory.
There’s a fascination with the furniture Ray Carner sold back then. Is it just about furniture?
It’s more about social progress. Furniture signified changing times. While the writer might prefer the seventies to the sixties, the pieces still stand out as symbols. They evoke childhood memories of seeing similar items in television shows like The Brady Bunch.