I just finished reading the whole collection of The Collected Stories of Chester Himes, and I have to say that it is an example of what is missing from short fiction today. His bio is interesting, for he wrote many of his stories while in prison. The writer he most resembles (to me) is Irwin Shaw, in that both were well known for having written detective/more pulpy type novels in their days, thereby gaining popularity with the masses. But both also happen to be excellent short story writers where they use a 'telling' approach in their narratives, and for the most part, their stories tend to remain on the short side. Himes, for example, has many tales that don't go past 2 pages. He also is good with titles in that they are simple but contain many layers to them. He has a tale called, "A Penny For Your Thoughts", and while this phrase in and of itself is a cliché, the subject matter deals with a lynching, so the cliché is subverted. Another great story is called "Looking Down The Street" about a couple that has their gas turned off in their apartment. The story then ends with:
"He stood perfectly still until the postman had passed the house and turned the corner, and still he stood there. He kept looking down the street, his body rigid as death, and when he realized that the postman had gone his eyes went dull as dirt. Goddamnit, I wish there was a war, he thought. I wish there was the biggest Goddamn war that was ever fought. And suddenly he was crying, so ashamed, so utterly ashamed."
As you can see, Himes does not have an obvious poetic approach in his writing, the narratives read rather straightforwardly, and this ending is a very powerful one because of the situation that preceded it. And that is how Himes gets his poetry. A very simple scene with a man looking out of a window, who is frustrated because he has no choice in having his gas turned off, and yet it evokes such emotion and it is done very well. Just taken out of context one could think it was a tad melodramatic, i.e. "rigid as death" etc, but it works well within the context of the tale. This is sort of akin to the Woody Allen film Sweet And Lowdown, where the story consists of a musician who, throughout the film is silly and the audience does not really see his frustration till the last scene where the character smashes his guitar and cries. Such is a scene that is cliché and melodramatic for the 'tortured artist' to do, but because the entire film before that scene works against the cliché and melodrama, it makes the last scene work.
Another good story is one called "Dirty Deceivers" that deals with a couple who is both fair-skinned, and yet neither knows that the other is black. The tale is very 'telling' but it works, and it's sort of like watching these people from afar. But then the tale ends with:
"Each became furious at the other's deceit. In fact, they got so mad at each other they quit speaking and are now suing for divorce on the grounds of false pretenses."
This goes against every rule these people who attend MFA workshops are told. If an editor received a tale as this, you can bet it would be rejected. And in some dull MFA course, they would advise the tale to be longer and to 'show' this couple acting out their frustrations. Why? They (the couple) are obviously shallow people, and to make the story into what MFAers want, would only take away the very originality of the piece. This is why this whole cliché of 'showing not telling' is such bullshit. Not to mention that the act of telling is also an act of showing, in that what the speaker chooses to tell, shows the readers something about that speaker. But most dumbasses don't realize this. There is nothing wrong with telling if it can be done well. And Himes does it very well.
There are many stories worth reading in this collection, and I can say that I really didn't find any bad tales in the book. At worst, they were still solid. So that is why, yet again, I believe the best teachers of writing are writers themselves, and reading Himes will enlighten a great deal.
And I just thought I'd post this photo, considering how cute he was.
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