A Rage in Harlem Audiobook By Chester Himes cover art

A Rage in Harlem

A Grave Digger & Coffin Ed Novel

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A Rage in Harlem

By: Chester Himes
Narrated by: Samuel L. Jackson
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Audie Award Nominee, Fiction, 2013

Academy Award nominee Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, Star Wars films), fresh off the success of his uproarious, Audie-nominated performance of the mock children’s book Go the F**k to Sleep, delivers a swaggering, darkly-humored rendering of Chester Himes’ classic first novel.

Himes, described by The Sunday Times as “the greatest find in American crime fiction since Raymond Chandler”, was no stranger to the world of crime: in his late teens and early 20s, he served seven years in the Ohio State Penitentiary for armed robbery, the confession to which was beaten out of him by the police. He delivers the tale of his hopelessly naïve hero suddenly finding himself on the run from a hypocritical and far-from-heroic police force with lurid violence and brutal humor. There is no voice better than Mr. Jackson’s to narrate this hardboiled story of love and crime, set in a richly imagined, mid-20th-century Harlem.

Explore more titles performed by some of the most celebrated actors in the business in Audible’s Star-Powered Listens collection.©1957 Chester Himes (P)2012 Audible, Inc. African American Crime Detective Fiction Hard-Boiled Mystery Private Investigators Suspense Thriller & Suspense Witty

Featured Article: The top 100 classics of all time


Before we whipped out our old high school syllabi and dug deep into our libraries to start selecting contenders for this list, we first had to answer the question, "How do we define a classic?" The answer isn’t as straightforward as you might guess, though there’s a lot to be said for the old adage, "You know it when you see it" (or, in this case, hear it). Of course, most critically, each of our picks had to be fabulous in audio. So dust off your aspirational listening list—we have some amazing additions you don’t want to miss.

Featured Article The top 100 classics of all time
Fast-paced Action • Colorful Characters • Unexpected Twists • Vivid Descriptions • Humorous Situations
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What made the experience of listening to A Rage in Harlem the most enjoyable?

Samuel L. Jackson is superb as the narrator. I laughed from start to finish. He is convincing in every role and makes each character come alive. This is one I will listen to again and again.

No rage while listening to this one

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What did you love best about A Rage in Harlem?

Samuel L. Jackson. Period. Sam brought these characters to visceral, warm-blooded life. The best narration I have ever heard.

What did you like best about this story?

The strength and development of the characters.

What does Samuel L. Jackson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The imagery of the characters. Through Sam's voice alone, each and every character has a soul. Each character has an identity that materializes from Sam's voice. It's almost like he is reading a screen play!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

"A tale of hustlers, con-men, pimps and thieves during the Harlem Renaissance."

Any additional comments?

By far the best performance from a narrator in the history of audio literature. The bar has been set by Sam Jackson and it may never be reset.

"Whachu talkin' 'bout Bruzzz..." WOW!!

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Where does A Rage in Harlem rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the top

What other book might you compare A Rage in Harlem to and why?

None

What about Samuel L. Jackson’s performance did you like?

Engaging..kept you entertained

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I made me laugh

Any additional comments?

Liked the story.samuel made me feel like I knew the characters.

Great Narrator- humorous story.

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I generally love Samuel L. Jackson as a narrator but for some reason I found this performance to be below par and a bit unclear in spots. The material was good and I'd still recommend the book.

Enjoyable but the narration got in the way

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The action starts literally immediately and never lets up. Sam Jackson is great and an absolute stunning narrator of audio books. I have not read others in the series so cannot say how this stacks up. I may or may not. It was a good book on the whole, but more entertainment than substance. More sizzle than steak, as they say. The characters the series is named for were rather cheesy, but I think meant to be? This is all done with a fan's kind of smirking, let's not get too serious kind of fun attitude.

Fast and Furious

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It's not just that this book is well written – it is – but that it's also tremendously funny. Chester Himes has a knack for literary slapstick, and he put it to good use here. The brutal, bloody violence is offset with hilarity. Samuel L Jackson's reading only adds to the pleasure.

Funny, compelling noir

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Where to start? Samuel L. Jackson's performance deserves 10 stars! it was absolutely amazing! The story had several LOL moments and enough drama to keep me on the edge of my seat. Grab this book, even if it's not your usual genre.

WOW!!

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I didn't really like it. The story lacked any remote amount of believability, and it simply couldn't seem imaginable or realistic in anyway. It was more like a comic book, or a tall tale of the hood. None of that could have ever happened the way it did, ever. Cops never shot through the ceiling on a nightly basis... and none of the drug addicts seem believable. Harlem doesn't even seem like Harlem. To the best of my knowledge Hines was from the midwest and spent time living in Los Angeles. At the time that he wrote these he lived in Paris. I understand the desire to make his story take place in Harlem, a center of black culture. And I understand that without internet book research must have been very tough. But I think it just wasn't believable at all.
The very redeeming factor was that Samuel L. Jackson was one of the best narrator's ever. I give the narration 5 stars, but the story 3 stars because it was just decent but not memorable and average out at 4.

Awesome narrator, soso story

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Samuel Jackson tour de force! If only they gave Academy Awards for Audiobook book performances.

Oscar caliber

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A rage in Harlem starts with a bang and doesn’t let down. The ending was great and Samuel L Jackson narrates like a genius

Great

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