John got it right. Rage in Harlem was first published in
France, in 1957, translated as:
"La reine des pommes" (here "pommes" -lit= apples- is French
slang for stupid or sucker, so it means "the queen of
suckers" or the like. The original English title given by
Himes was indeed "The Five Cornered Square", as indicated in
the copyrights page of the French edition. The book got a
French mystery novel prize after its publication in France
and was supported there by literary figures as Jean
Cocteau.
E.Borgers Hard-Boiled Mysteries http://www.geocities.com/Athens/6384
John Williams a 飲it:
>As Jim pointed out A Rage in Harlem became the new
title for the book a good
>thirty years before the film came out (probably
simply to let book buyers
>know it was a black mystery). Curious thing is that
For Love Of Imabelle is
>not the original title either. The book was first
published in French as La
>Reine Des Pommes (The Queen of Apples) but that Serie
Noire edition gave the
>English title as The Five-Cornered Square, which was
presumably Himes own
>preferred name for it.
>
>Oh and BTW was it Mark who enquired about The End Of
A Primitive? Anyway
>it's a book everyone should read, a flat-out American
masterpiece, and a
>startlingly modern one too.
>
>John.
>
>
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