I found Chester Himes almost by accident, in an agent’s catalogue that placed him somewhere between Chandler, Hammett, Baldwin and Ralph Ellison. That was enough. Then I came across a description of his Harlem novels as a mixture of Hieronymus Bosch and Miles Davis, which is surprisingly close: violent, funny, crowded, fast and slightly surreal.
An elegant noir cover would have been completely wrong. I wanted something closer to the noise and velocity of the book, so the gun, oversized title and brown background became a single blunt graphic object. Image and typography almost collapse into each other: Himes is not subtle, and I saw no reason for the cover to be.
Year: 2026
Page size: 125×175 mm (4.9×6.9 in.)
Pages: 288
Paper: Ecco Book Cream 80 g 2.0
Binding: paperback
Cover material: Materica Terra Rossa 250 g uncoated stock
Cover material: Materica Terra Rossa 250 g uncoated stock
Typefaces: Futura ND, Manuka Condensed, Paperback (body)
