Reviews for Pinktoes

The average rating for Pinktoes based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-09-22 00:00:00 Mara Zilkenat "Pinktoes," Chester Himes states, "is a term of indulgent affection applied to white women by Negro men, and sometimes conversely by Negro women to white men, but never adversely by either." Printed in Paris in 1962 because it was perhaps too racially confrontational for American publishers, this sex farce is regarded as Himes's most daring work of fiction. The book is a rowdy work of fiction that debunks do-gooders and want to be's. Himes satirizes social missionaries who preach uplift and promote specious causes, usually themselves and in pursuit of sexual conquests. Himes is writing with zest and portrays Mamie Mason, Harlem's most influential society matron, hosting desegregated sexual orgies, all for the advancement of harmony between the races. Mamie wants to be seen amid the "right people.". Utilizing an amazing amount of double entendre's and implied sexual double speak Himes shows us a side of Harlem life as we could have never imagined it. The book is funny has hell in places yet it's not hard to see why it was sold as pornography in it's early years of existence. In 1969 Himes moved to Moraira, Spain, where he died in 1984 from Parkinson's Disease. What a great loss.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-08-09 00:00:00 YVETTE SHANK Chester Himes is one of the most criminally underrated writers EVER. With his mix of dry humor, wink-wink-nudge-nudge treatment of sexuality, all against the backdrop of The Negro Problem in a fictional but highly believable Harlem and time, I've always found his books enjoyable. This one is, to put it simply, silly. A cast of many and a plot as simple as the original sin made this book an enjoyable read.