Status
Available
Collection
Publication
Doubleday Books (2021), 336 pages
Description
To his customers and neighbors on 125th street, Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably priced furniture, making a decent life for himself and his family. He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their second child, and if her parents on Strivers Row dont approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, its still home. Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks, and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger all the time. Cash is tight, especially with all those installment-plan sofas, so if his cousin Freddie occasionally drops off the odd ring or necklace, Ray doesnt ask where it comes from. He knows a discreet jeweler downtown who doesnt ask questions, either. Then Freddie falls in with a crew who plan to rob the Hotel Theresathe Waldorf of Harlemand volunteers Rays services as the fence. The heist doesnt go as planned; they rarely do. Now Ray has a new clientele, one made up of shady cops, vicious local gangsters, two-bit pornographers, and other assorted Harlem lowlifes. Thus begins the internal tussle between Ray the striver and Ray the crook. As Ray navigates this double life, he begins to see who actually pulls the strings in Harlem. Can Ray avoid getting killed, save his cousin, and grab his share of the big score, all while maintaining his reputation as the go-to source for all your quality home furniture needs? Harlem Shuffles ingenious story plays out in a beautifully recreated New York City of the early 1960s. Its a family saga masquerading as a crime novel, a hilarious morality play, a social novel about race and power, and ultimately a love letter to Harlem. But mostly, its a joy to read, another dazzling novel from the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning Colson Whitehead.… (more)
Media reviews
Already having tackled everything from zombies to metaphorical railroads, Whitehead turned to noir and humor for his latest release, Harlem Shuffle. At once a character study about a furniture salesman living in New York City in the early 1960s and a narrative that explores how even good people can
Show More
be slightly crooked for all the right reasons, Harlem Shuffle is a funny, violent novel that doubles as a love letter to New York City’s seedy underbelly and the plethora of characters that made it unique....Harlem Shuffle is many things. On the surface, it is a crime novel with a family saga at its core. However, as readers have come to expect from Whitehead, the narrative is also an exploration of race and power dynamics that coexists with a story about the eternal battle between ethics and need whenever money enters the equation. Show Less
A heist with a cast of zany characters, tongue-in-cheek dialogue, questionable criminal skills, and of course, a bumbling, incompetent thief or two are undoubtedly part of the charm of Colson Whitehead's Harlem Shuffle. But the novel is also a powerful tale of a man's love for his family and the
Show More
neighborhood where he lives. And the man at the center of that tale is a devastatingly enjoyable character who has a true gift for words — if not always the smartest actions. Show Less
“Harlem Shuffle” brings Whitehead’s unwavering eloquence — at one point he describes traffic as “honking molasses” — to a mix of city history, niche hangouts, racial stratification, high hopes and low individuals....Though it’s a slightly slow starter, “Harlem Shuffle” has
Show More
dialogue that crackles, a final third that nearly explodes, hangouts that invite even if they’re Chock Full o’ Nuts and characters you won’t forget even if they don’t stick around for more than a few pages. Show Less
Throughout, readers will be captivated by a Dickensian array of colorful, idiosyncratic characters, from itchy-fingered gangsters to working-class women with a low threshold for male folly. What’s even more impressive is Whitehead’s densely layered, intricately woven rendering of New York City
Show More
in the Kennedy era, a time filled with both the bright promise of greater economic opportunity and looming despair due to the growing heroin plague. It's a city in which, as one character observes, “everybody’s kicking back or kicking up. Unless you’re on top.” As one of Whitehead’s characters might say of their creator, When you’re hot, you’re hot. Show Less
It’s a superlative story, but the most impressive achievement is Whitehead’s loving depiction of a Harlem 60 years gone—“that rustling, keening thing of people and concrete”—which lands as detailed and vivid as Joyce’s Dublin. Don’t be surprised if this one wins Whitehead another
Show More
major award. Show Less
Whitehead’s Harlem Shuffle continues his success as one of the literary giants of our time. One of his past novels, the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Underground Railroad, confronts the vestiges of slavery and another, The Nickel Boys, tackles racism in the Jim Crow justice system. With Harlem
Show More
Shuffle, Whitehead depicts another American era, bringing 1960s Harlem back to life. In this mixed-genre — family saga and crime — story.... Like Whitehead’s previous award-winning novels, Harlem Shuffle exudes authorial power and profound insight into the American experiment. In this multi-layered crime narrative, Whitehead presents complex characters who embody the complexity of their social milieu. Like America, Harlem’s stratified beauty is symbolic of the constant tension between those who are corrupt and those who are trying to lead a respectable existence. Ultimately, the power of Whitehead’s mixed-genre narrative is his exploration and insight into the duplicitous mindset of the American consciousness. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member laytonwoman3rd
This is Whitehead's take on a heist novel, set in Harlem in the early 1960s. We don't get in on the execution of the event itself, as our protagonist, Ray Carney is an involuntary participant on the periphery of the action. Ray has a retail furniture store, selling some pretty nice stuff,
Show More
supporting his family well enough, and dreaming of a better apartment in a nicer neighborhood one day. OK, maybe some of his "second-hand" furniture might have fallen off a truck, or come from a source he'd rather not know about. Aaand, he's not averse to fencing a few pieces of jewelry and other smallish valuables his god-help-me cousin Freddie brings by from time to time. The extra cash is useful. But by and large, Ray would like to think of himself as a legitimate businessman who has risen out of the criminal circles his father was known to inhabit. Of course, he's learned a lot by association, and he understands how the underworld of Harlem works. So when Freddie gets involved in an overly ambitious heist of safe deposit box contents from the so-called "Waldorf of Harlem", it's no surprise that he volunteers his cousin Ray to move the stuff. The trouble is, Ray had previously told Freddie he wanted no part of this ridiculous scheme, and now he is stuck between the gang and the cops, with no apparent means of escape. The novel is not high on narrative tension, but it is gripping in another way, as Ray and the reader explore the nuances of "doing the right thing", family loyalties, and all kinds of other issues that truly cannot be reduced to "black and white" simplicity. The setting is irresistible, and rendered with the love of NYC in general, Harlem in particular, which was so beautifully displayed in Whitehead's The Colossus of New York. This is how you make us understand what there is to love about a place that is home despite its dangers. Show Less
LibraryThing member browner56
Ray Carney is doing his best to thrive and survive. As a black entrepreneur operating in the heart of Harlem during the period just before the passage of the Civil Rights Act, he is trying to build a legitimate business selling furniture while generating some additional cash flow by fencing stolen
Harlem Shuffle chronicles about a half dozen years of Ray’s tale, along with a substantial amount of the backstory on his upbringing for context. Split into three connected parts starting in 1959, the novel provides a chronological series of snapshots that add up to a compelling portrait of the main character. That is an important point to make because while the book is nominally billed as a crime story, the actual capers described are the least interesting thing about it. In fact, where Colson Whitehead’s prose really shines is in the meticulous way he recreates a sense of the time and the place during an era when things were changing so rapidly. This is impressive historical fiction that builds a world filled racial tension, shady business dealings, corrupt police, rampant drug use, as well as loyal friends, hard-working folks trying to climb the ladder, and a lot of people with solid family values.
I did enjoy this book, but it seems like one that I should have loved. The story itself starts off very slowly and only builds to a page-turning crescendo right near the end, perhaps due to the careful way in which the author chose to create Ray’s character. However, that focus came at the expense of developing the rest of the supporting cast, most of whom were neither fully formed nor particularly engaging (Ray’s crime associate Pepper being a notable exception). Also, it is difficult not to compare this novel to James McBride’s Deacon King Kong, which covers similar ground in terms of the social issues portrayed but does so in a far more joyful and entertaining fashion. So, Harlem Shuffle is a novel that I can easily recommend for what it does best, but it is one that falls a little short of the Whitehead’s own considerable catalog of past work.
Show More
goods. As the son of a well-known crook, Carney is well versed in the local criminal community, but still tries his best to stay above the fray in order to support his wife and two children. However, when his cousin Freddie—with whom Ray was raised for long stretches of his youth—drags him into a few complicated (and poorly conceived) thefts, Ray’s future is put at considerable risk. How he manages to walk the fine line between remaining loyal to a family member while staying alive and out of jail creates the dramatic tension in the story.Harlem Shuffle chronicles about a half dozen years of Ray’s tale, along with a substantial amount of the backstory on his upbringing for context. Split into three connected parts starting in 1959, the novel provides a chronological series of snapshots that add up to a compelling portrait of the main character. That is an important point to make because while the book is nominally billed as a crime story, the actual capers described are the least interesting thing about it. In fact, where Colson Whitehead’s prose really shines is in the meticulous way he recreates a sense of the time and the place during an era when things were changing so rapidly. This is impressive historical fiction that builds a world filled racial tension, shady business dealings, corrupt police, rampant drug use, as well as loyal friends, hard-working folks trying to climb the ladder, and a lot of people with solid family values.
I did enjoy this book, but it seems like one that I should have loved. The story itself starts off very slowly and only builds to a page-turning crescendo right near the end, perhaps due to the careful way in which the author chose to create Ray’s character. However, that focus came at the expense of developing the rest of the supporting cast, most of whom were neither fully formed nor particularly engaging (Ray’s crime associate Pepper being a notable exception). Also, it is difficult not to compare this novel to James McBride’s Deacon King Kong, which covers similar ground in terms of the social issues portrayed but does so in a far more joyful and entertaining fashion. So, Harlem Shuffle is a novel that I can easily recommend for what it does best, but it is one that falls a little short of the Whitehead’s own considerable catalog of past work.
Show Less
LibraryThing member bragan
This one takes place in Harlem between 1959 and 1964, and centers on Ray Carney, who prides himself on not being a criminal like his father. He's a solid citizen who runs his own furniture store, and runs it well. Any mildly shady activities he might be involved in don't make him crooked, really.
I think, going in, I expected this to be essentially a literary heist novel, but that turned out to not really be accurate. Indeed, the exact plot details of the criminal enterprises Carney finds himself drawn into (or, in one notable case, instigating) almost feel incidental. The novel is much more about Carney himself, about the ways in which he lives his life, about this particular time and place, and implicitly (and rather depressingly) about the more-things-change-the-more-they-stay-the-same reflections of our own time in Carney's when it comes to the dynamics of race and class, anger and power.
And it does all of this well and interestingly, with a light but effective touch. I didn't find it nearly as powerful as The Underground Railroad or quite as fascinating as Zone One, those being the two Whitehead novels I'd read previously, but it's good stuff nevertheless, and I continue to be impressed with not just Whitehead's writing, but his range.
Show More
Just very slightly bent. Or so he's very good at telling himself.I think, going in, I expected this to be essentially a literary heist novel, but that turned out to not really be accurate. Indeed, the exact plot details of the criminal enterprises Carney finds himself drawn into (or, in one notable case, instigating) almost feel incidental. The novel is much more about Carney himself, about the ways in which he lives his life, about this particular time and place, and implicitly (and rather depressingly) about the more-things-change-the-more-they-stay-the-same reflections of our own time in Carney's when it comes to the dynamics of race and class, anger and power.
And it does all of this well and interestingly, with a light but effective touch. I didn't find it nearly as powerful as The Underground Railroad or quite as fascinating as Zone One, those being the two Whitehead novels I'd read previously, but it's good stuff nevertheless, and I continue to be impressed with not just Whitehead's writing, but his range.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Hccpsk
I’m going to be honest, Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead starts slow. Like, what’s going on, there are so many characters, it feels a lot like Deacon King Kong (but “gasp”-- not as good), if this was anyone but Whitehead it may just fall into the DNF pile slow. But, it is Colson
Show More
Whitehead, so I kept reading and eventually Whitehead’s fine writing, attention to detail and sense of humor began to work their magic until I cared about Ray Carney, his furniture store, and his family at the core of the novel. Told in three parts (1959, 1961, and 1964), it centers around Carney who runs a legitimate business, but cannot escape the legacy of his well-known crook father and the bond with his dubious cousin, Freddie. Don’t be fooled by the “heist-thriller” billing — Whitehead has written a historical novel about New York in the early 60s, full of sharp social commentary and racial justice themes. It’s also a masterwork in character development, as Whitehead gives us as complex a character as I can remember in recent fiction while still managing an (eventually) page-turning plot. A must-read for any serious reader. Show Less
LibraryThing member bell7
Ray Carney is only slightly crooked: he owns a furniture shop in Harlem and dreams of moving to a nice apartment with his wife and kids, and only occasionally has "gently used" items in his store into whose provenance he does not ask. Then his cousin Freddie asks him to be the fence for a big heist
The book is structured in three parts: 1959, 1961, and 1964. Each of these has pivotal events in Carney's life, and - the final third in particular - New York City. The city Whitehead paints is detailed and rich, and we get to know the Black neighborhoods and question whether Carney's crime is really any worse than what other, more "upstanding" citizens are perpetrating at the same time. A great book club book and one that would reward rereading because when you already know the plot and what will happen to the characters, you can then concentrate on the details, the language, and the other elements that make one of Whitehead's stories so special.
Show More
a buddy of his is planning, getting Carney deeper into the seedier side of town.The book is structured in three parts: 1959, 1961, and 1964. Each of these has pivotal events in Carney's life, and - the final third in particular - New York City. The city Whitehead paints is detailed and rich, and we get to know the Black neighborhoods and question whether Carney's crime is really any worse than what other, more "upstanding" citizens are perpetrating at the same time. A great book club book and one that would reward rereading because when you already know the plot and what will happen to the characters, you can then concentrate on the details, the language, and the other elements that make one of Whitehead's stories so special.
Show Less
LibraryThing member TheAmpersand
Another novel in which Whitehead seems to be in his unplugged mode and writing for the sheer joy of storytelling. This time we hear about the adventures of Mike Carney, Jr., the son of a no-account stick-up man who's gone straight -- or as straight as he can go -- by getting into the furniture
"Harlem Shuffle" is, I suppose, historical fiction, and it's easy to see a the author put in time doing research. At the same time, the novel never feels overly constricted by either its temporal or geographical setting. Whitehead is still writing to tell a story, and I've got little doubt that he's one of our best. But what I might have enjoyed most is the parts of the novel's Harlem setting that the passage of time has more or less erased. Carney's looked down on by his in-laws, certified blue-chip members of the "talented tenth," the kind of black professionals who were once thought to be able to make it in America even, sometimes even by those who considered most black people utterly irredeemable. We hear about a set of clubs, businesses, subtle social differentiations that held real weight in small, tightly knit neighborhoods of black up-and-comers. Much of these institutions and perspectives were more or less washed away by the success of the Civil Rights movement and the racial integration that followed, however limited it might have been, in much the same way that advances in technology decimated the commercial district where you could always take your radio to get it fixed. Meanwhile, Carney watches his father's "associates" fade into history as the drug trade moves in. There are parts of "Harlem Shuffle" that don't fit squarely with the dominant narrative of the United States in the sixties, and it's one of the things that makes it an exceptionally interesting book. I found "Harlem Shuffle" to be compulsively readable, if for no other reason that Colson Whitehead seems to depict Mike Carney's character and his particular social coordinates with such exactness and with such apparent ease. Enjoyable and highly recommendable.
Show More
business and opening up his store in Harlem. This is the early sixties, and so Mike's race determines much of what he can and can't do and how he can or can't do it. The Civil Rights movement and the first urban riots of the sixties keep up a constant hum in the background, too. But I think that the author seems much more interested in other questions. Carney's got a sideline in fencing stolen jewelry and electronics, a secret he keeps both from his employees and -- in a sense -- himself. Carney is a professional with a college degree and he takes his life as a small business owner seriously, but given his background and the realities of earning a living, he can only afford to be so honest. A childhood spent among minor criminals and a family member who's still mostly on the wrong side of the law also gives Carney a couple of perspectives you don't find at most Rotary Club meetings. Throughout "Harlem Shuffle," we see our protagonist reconsider the meaning and importance of his inheritance, sometimes discovering parts of himself he never suspected were there. Carney -- often to his disappointment -- also discovers that race and class affect even the way that the underworld operates, though some of his adventures open new doors, too. We watch, for example, how he learns much more about jewelry than the average furniture salesman and also watch how each moral compromise moves him further from the by-the-book businessman that he'd like to be. Carney starts out small time, but it isn't too long before we see that much of the neighborhood's on the take, in one way or another. There is, it seems something ugly hiding behind everybody's high-minded rhetoric, and, while he isn't he crook that his father was, Carney's just smart enough to sense it. His dubious origins turn out to be useful, even in the straight world. "Harlem Shuffle" is, I suppose, historical fiction, and it's easy to see a the author put in time doing research. At the same time, the novel never feels overly constricted by either its temporal or geographical setting. Whitehead is still writing to tell a story, and I've got little doubt that he's one of our best. But what I might have enjoyed most is the parts of the novel's Harlem setting that the passage of time has more or less erased. Carney's looked down on by his in-laws, certified blue-chip members of the "talented tenth," the kind of black professionals who were once thought to be able to make it in America even, sometimes even by those who considered most black people utterly irredeemable. We hear about a set of clubs, businesses, subtle social differentiations that held real weight in small, tightly knit neighborhoods of black up-and-comers. Much of these institutions and perspectives were more or less washed away by the success of the Civil Rights movement and the racial integration that followed, however limited it might have been, in much the same way that advances in technology decimated the commercial district where you could always take your radio to get it fixed. Meanwhile, Carney watches his father's "associates" fade into history as the drug trade moves in. There are parts of "Harlem Shuffle" that don't fit squarely with the dominant narrative of the United States in the sixties, and it's one of the things that makes it an exceptionally interesting book. I found "Harlem Shuffle" to be compulsively readable, if for no other reason that Colson Whitehead seems to depict Mike Carney's character and his particular social coordinates with such exactness and with such apparent ease. Enjoyable and highly recommendable.
Show Less
LibraryThing member nmele
I heard a reviewer call this Colson Whitehead novel a lesser work from the author of The Underground Railroad and Nickel Boys but after reading it, I disagree; Whitehead's novel is still examining racism and the cost of racism in its historical context. In this case, the historical context is
Show More
Harlem in the 1950s and 1960s but some aspects of the novel are contemporary, like the shooting of an unarmed black youth by a white policeman. The protagonist triumphs in the end, but not without suffering losses. This looks like a genre novel but I felt Whitehead was doing more than writing a crime story. Show Less
LibraryThing member nancyadair
First, this novel was hugely fun to read. Ray Carney’s dad was a crack crook, but Carney’s dream is to be an entrepreneur with a chain of successful furniture stores. But, his cousin Freddie keeps Carney’s fingers in his dad’s business, handling hot goods. They get into loads of trouble,
The writing is clever, with memorable lines.
“He measured his prison time in terms not of years lost but of scores missed.”
“The rug was freshly vacuumed, which suited the captives, who had their faces in it.”
“Certainly she hadn’t quit show business, waitressing being a line of work where you had to play to even the cheapest of seats.”
“The cookies were stale and the fortunes discouraging.”
Harlem in the 1960s is vividly recreated, filled with colorful and unforgettable inhabitants.
The timeline ranges from 1959 to 1964, showing life in Harlem from Carney’s hard childhood, his in-laws from Striver’s Row, to the riots and the razing of neighborhoods to build the World Trade Center.
So, we have a hugely entertaining story of a heist, a revenge plot, sharp writing, vivid characters–but wait! There’s more!
No New Frontier stretched before him, endless and bountiful–that was for white folks…
from Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
Because the novel is also a history of class and race. Carney wants to add a cutting-edge furniture line to his story, the first black business owner to work with the company. During the meeting in Carney’s store, the police walk in and the rep scurries out. Business owners lost everything in the riot, because insurance companies wouldn’t write policies for Negro shopkeepers. The riots were blamed on activists from CORE.
I guiltily admit that I have not read Colson Whitehead since his debut novel The Intuitionist. I know. How could I have not read his Pulitzer Prize winning books? When an email came from the publisher with a widget to read Harlem Shuffle, I quickly responded. And am so glad I did.
I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
Show More
their lives at stake, while Carney maintains his role as a family man with a sound business, keeping his two lives separate. Carney’s aspirations to move to Riverside Drive and join the Duma Club come to nothing when he himself is conned. The story culminates in a dangerous scheme of revenge.The writing is clever, with memorable lines.
“He measured his prison time in terms not of years lost but of scores missed.”
“The rug was freshly vacuumed, which suited the captives, who had their faces in it.”
“Certainly she hadn’t quit show business, waitressing being a line of work where you had to play to even the cheapest of seats.”
“The cookies were stale and the fortunes discouraging.”
Harlem in the 1960s is vividly recreated, filled with colorful and unforgettable inhabitants.
The timeline ranges from 1959 to 1964, showing life in Harlem from Carney’s hard childhood, his in-laws from Striver’s Row, to the riots and the razing of neighborhoods to build the World Trade Center.
So, we have a hugely entertaining story of a heist, a revenge plot, sharp writing, vivid characters–but wait! There’s more!
No New Frontier stretched before him, endless and bountiful–that was for white folks…
from Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
Because the novel is also a history of class and race. Carney wants to add a cutting-edge furniture line to his story, the first black business owner to work with the company. During the meeting in Carney’s store, the police walk in and the rep scurries out. Business owners lost everything in the riot, because insurance companies wouldn’t write policies for Negro shopkeepers. The riots were blamed on activists from CORE.
I guiltily admit that I have not read Colson Whitehead since his debut novel The Intuitionist. I know. How could I have not read his Pulitzer Prize winning books? When an email came from the publisher with a widget to read Harlem Shuffle, I quickly responded. And am so glad I did.
I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
Show Less
LibraryThing member kimkimkim
Smooth Operator. At times Ray Carney is one smooth operator, who is frequently thrown off the rails by his cousin Freddie. They have a “Laurel and Harry Routine, whereby Freddie talks Ray into an “ill-advised scheme” and then they try to outrun the consequences. This tango has been going on
NYC is changing and everyone has to keep up or fall behind - Ray Carney recognizes the signs and knows he has to adapt. He is a smart man with great powers of reason. He hides a lot from his family and some from himself until he understands where he stands and how he got there. Where he goes next seems as if it had been charted without his input. Circumstances drag him into and along paths crossed by mini and major gangsters, corrupt cops, protection muscle, egotistical whites and blacks.
The writing is smooth, there is a rhythm, a cadence which matches the story and while I didn’t rip through the pages I enjoyed turning each one. Thank you NEtGalley and Doubleday for a copy.
Show More
since they were young boys and a certain dependence and loyalty has been Ray’s constant companion. Freddie mostly disappears, goes into hiding , leaving Ray to bob and weave, protect and preserve. Ray has a business degree from Queens College, a business selling furniture and a fence or two, one for the small stuff another for the the more important merchandise. If his wife were to find out about that last bit she would take the children and leave him.NYC is changing and everyone has to keep up or fall behind - Ray Carney recognizes the signs and knows he has to adapt. He is a smart man with great powers of reason. He hides a lot from his family and some from himself until he understands where he stands and how he got there. Where he goes next seems as if it had been charted without his input. Circumstances drag him into and along paths crossed by mini and major gangsters, corrupt cops, protection muscle, egotistical whites and blacks.
The writing is smooth, there is a rhythm, a cadence which matches the story and while I didn’t rip through the pages I enjoyed turning each one. Thank you NEtGalley and Doubleday for a copy.
Show Less
LibraryThing member JosephKing6602
Good narrative prose but mixed up plot and a jumble of characters
LibraryThing member jetangen4571
1960s, African-American-history-fiction, criminal-acts, NYC, cultural-exploration*****
Whatever anyone else thinks of Whitehead or his material, it is a given that whatever he writes will draw the reader in all the way to the end. And the way he makes the characters come alive is astounding. It's
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Doubleday Books, Doubleday via NetGalley. Thank you!
Whatever anyone else thinks of Whitehead or his material, it is a given that whatever he writes will draw the reader in all the way to the end. And the way he makes the characters come alive is astounding. It's
Show More
been a while since I've read one of his books, but that was life getting in the way not disinterest. Excellent read.I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Doubleday Books, Doubleday via NetGalley. Thank you!
Show Less
LibraryThing member FormerEnglishTeacher
A black man, an entrepreneur in Harlem in the late 1950s and early 1960s, turns from a life of business to a life of crime. Whitehead’s latest blockbuster best seller. I could be wrong, but I don’t think this one will continue his string of Pulitzers.
LibraryThing member davidroche
Colson Whitehead is another excellent American author who I only discovered in recent years when Underground Railroad hit the headlines at the end of 2016. His latest novel is Harlem Shuffle (Fleet) is set in 1960s Harlem. Ray Carney is a respectable family man with his own furniture store. His in
Show More
laws know better and his seedy cousin is always one step away from getting Ray into trouble. The inadvertent involvement in one heist leads to a bigger plan to assuage the resentment caused by those who look down on him and consider him not worthy of belonging to the respectable business club, of which is father-in-law is a member. The stakes get ever higher until the potential downfall could spell the end for Ray and all he has worked so hard for. Show Less
LibraryThing member Carmenere
Harlem Shuffle is a mix of historical fiction and backstreet dealings in mid 20th century Harlem.
Ray Carney is a slightly bent but not crooked furniture salesman who is trying to make a good life for his family however his Cousin Freddie has a way of inviting mayhem into his life.
The novel is
I thoroughly enjoyed the historical aspects of the novel which had me Googling to find out more.
The characters, as is usual for Whitehead, are distinctive and entertaining.
Whitehead's prose is topnotch and the novel itself has so many terrific quotes you'll be taking the time to write them down.
Read this one slowly and savour it's quality.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an Advanced Copy of this splendid novel.
Ray Carney is a slightly bent but not crooked furniture salesman who is trying to make a good life for his family however his Cousin Freddie has a way of inviting mayhem into his life.
The novel is
Show More
broken down into three sections indicating the three jobs Carney gets involved in starting with the Hotel Theresa a Harlem mainstay for African Americans. I thoroughly enjoyed the historical aspects of the novel which had me Googling to find out more.
The characters, as is usual for Whitehead, are distinctive and entertaining.
Whitehead's prose is topnotch and the novel itself has so many terrific quotes you'll be taking the time to write them down.
Read this one slowly and savour it's quality.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an Advanced Copy of this splendid novel.
Show Less
LibraryThing member alexrichman
Not a patch on his previous two - but then again, precious little is. An enjoyable romp that serves well as a companion to Deacon King Kong when it comes to loveable locals behaving badly.
LibraryThing member jnmegan
Once again, Colson Whitehead proves that he can conquer any genre. With Harlem Shuffle, he takes on the caper/crime novel schema and employs his amazing talent to elevate it from its typical genre fiction roots to true literary fiction. This book is multifaceted, incorporating incisive social
Thanks to the author, Doubleday and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
Show More
commentary and true historical events. It’s enveloping and time-spanning plot compels readers to face and acknowledge some uncomfortable truths. This time, Whitehea’s main character is Ray Carney, an ambitious business owner in 1950s Harlem. He is a dedicated family man who strives to achieve the best he can within the limits placed on him. Ray also happens to be a criminal who uses his furniture store as a front for dealing in stolen items. Due to his seedy upbringing and criminal experiences from his past, Ray has inside knowledge of Harlem’s underbelly. This double identity helps support his family, although they know nothing about it. Ray is forced to lean more heavily on his crooked side in order to protect his feckless cousin Freddy. When Freddie pulls off an especially foolhardy heist, he and Ray become targets for some influential people of the Park Avenue crowd. This time, he needs to tightrope between his two identities in order protect all that he has built. As Ray’s interior conflict rages, the escalating riots and looting in the background mirror his turmoil. A flawed but sympathetic character, Ray’s flexible moral compass is a consequence of the surrounding systemic racism. Whitehead points out how the resulting dichotomies reflect a lack of choice—a reality that forces some to bend the law in order to thrive. Ray becomes a crook because society does not permit him to achieve his desires and goals without doing so. Written with great wit and style, Harlem Shuffle is a perfectly paced and engrossing novel. It underscores Whitehead’s prodigious talent for blending strong social commentary with pure entertainment.Thanks to the author, Doubleday and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
Show Less
LibraryThing member miss.mesmerized
Ray Carney just wants to lead decent life as a black furniture salesman at the beginning of the 1960s in Harlem. His wife Elizabeth is expecting their second child and even if his in-laws are not happy with him, his life is quite ok. His cousin Freddie shows up from time to time with some bargains
With “The Underground Railroad” and “The Nickel Boys” Colson Whitehead has catapulted himself at the top of the list of contemporary writers. Just as in his former works, “Harlem Shuffle” brilliantly captures the mood and the atmosphere of the time it is set in. It only takes a couple of pages to get a feeling of 125th street of the time and first and foremost, how people experienced the riots after the shooting of an unarmed black boy by a policeman. Thus, even though the plot is set sixty years in the past, he succeeds in connecting it to present day events and issues.
“The way he saw it, living taught you that you didn’t have to live the way you’d been taught to live- You came from one place but more important was where you decided to go.”
Ray has decided for a decent life with his furniture store, he keeps to himself and his family and does not want to get involved too much in any criminal doings. He has grown up with broken glass on the playground, killings where just a side note of everyday life. Yet, Freddie is his cousin and blood ultimately is thicker than water. They have grown up like brothers and the bond cannot easily be cut even though this time, it means serious consequences.
The novel develops slowly but it is those seemingly unrelated marginalia that provide the depth of the story and create the atmosphere on which the story lives. A great novel vividly written and definitely worth reading, however, I am not as enthusiastic as I was after reading his former novels.
Show More
and Ray does not ask too many questions about the origins of the odd sofa or necklace. But when Freddie and a bunch of crooks plan to rob the Hotel Theresa – something like Harlem’s Waldorf – and as for his help to get rid of the loot, his life becomes a lot more complicated especially since Ray quickly understands that there is not much room for negotiation. With “The Underground Railroad” and “The Nickel Boys” Colson Whitehead has catapulted himself at the top of the list of contemporary writers. Just as in his former works, “Harlem Shuffle” brilliantly captures the mood and the atmosphere of the time it is set in. It only takes a couple of pages to get a feeling of 125th street of the time and first and foremost, how people experienced the riots after the shooting of an unarmed black boy by a policeman. Thus, even though the plot is set sixty years in the past, he succeeds in connecting it to present day events and issues.
“The way he saw it, living taught you that you didn’t have to live the way you’d been taught to live- You came from one place but more important was where you decided to go.”
Ray has decided for a decent life with his furniture store, he keeps to himself and his family and does not want to get involved too much in any criminal doings. He has grown up with broken glass on the playground, killings where just a side note of everyday life. Yet, Freddie is his cousin and blood ultimately is thicker than water. They have grown up like brothers and the bond cannot easily be cut even though this time, it means serious consequences.
The novel develops slowly but it is those seemingly unrelated marginalia that provide the depth of the story and create the atmosphere on which the story lives. A great novel vividly written and definitely worth reading, however, I am not as enthusiastic as I was after reading his former novels.
Show Less
LibraryThing member sleahey
This is a novel about being trapped by circumstances. For Ray Carney, it seems that no matter how hard he tries to rise above his background of being raised by a criminal, and no matter how hard he tries to be a successful and honest businessman, his family obligations and the color of his skin
Show More
make his goals nearly impossible. His cousin who is like a brother to him keeps dragging him into ill-fated criminal activities that put his business, family, and his own life at risk. The reader becomes immersed in the impossibility of the decisions Ray has to make as the actions spiral out of his control. Set during three separated years of the 1960's, the issues of prejudice, loyalty, betrayal, and fate are just as relevant today. The portrait of Harlem during the 60's is vivid, and I can easily imagine this being made into a noir film. Show Less
LibraryThing member maryroberta
Excellent narration. Well done. New York as character.
LibraryThing member novelcommentary
Colson Whitehead's newest novel is a wonderful journey into the dual existence of Ray Carney. The son of a crook, Ray has a hard time leaving all his roots as furniture salesman in Harlem who occasionally will act as middle man for stolen goods. "he's only slightly bent when it comes to being
Ray Carney's observations about life in the turbulent 60's, the cast of life long criminals and crooked cops, about playing it safe or enacting revenge--makes for entertaining reading with glimpses of a life worth rooting for. The character descriptions alone are treasures. Here's one of my favorite characters, Pepper:
"He was burly and long-limbed, stooping to hide his true size. Something off about him made you look twice, but his dark gaze made you turn before you could figure it out. He shouldn’t be there, but was. A mountain man who’d taken a wrong turn and stayed in the city, or a blown-in weed that’d found purchase in a sidewalk crack: a foreign body that had adapted to its new home."
There is talk of Whitehead continuing with The characters of this great novel; we can only hope.
Lines:
Carney took the previous tenants’ busted schemes and failed dreams as a kind of fertilizer that helped his own ambitions prosper, the same way a fallen oak in its decomposition nourishes the acorn.
Freddie’s common sense tended to fall out of a hole in his pocket—he never carried it long.
Everyone had secret corners and alleys that no one else saw—what mattered were your major streets and boulevards, the stuff that showed up on other people’s maps of you.
Pepper
He was burly and long-limbed, stooping to hide his true size. Something off about him made you look twice, but his dark gaze made you turn before you could figure it out. He shouldn’t be there, but was. A mountain man who’d taken a wrong turn and stayed in the city, or a blown-in weed that’d found purchase in a sidewalk crack: a foreign body that had adapted to its new home.
It was one thing to believe the world was indifferent and cruel, and another to wake to proof every day in the treacherous mountain slopes, the hungry gorges and ravines, the myriad jungle treachery. Only a lazy God could deliver the meanness of things so unadorned.
The diner was a shabby operation, the cracks in the floor caulked by grime, the windows cloudy.
Dorvay
It was a respite from the normal world and its demands, a hollow of private enterprise carved out of lost hours...Learned gentlemen aside, Carney knew crime’s hours when he saw them—dorvay was crooked heaven, when the straight world slept and the bent got to work.
He reminded Carney of the mouthy deputy in a Western, cocksure and cracking jokes, and liable to get offed before the final reel.
The children were spread-eagled, with their faces nestled into the crooks of their arms. All the Carneys slept like that, as if still shrinking from some primeval ugliness.
But then, Big Mike had tended his crop of grudges like a farmer, inspecting the rows, taking care they got enough water and fertilizer so that they grew big and healthy.
He took up a pipe and on warm nights perched on the fire escape overlooking Forty-Eighth, puffing, the iron scaffold a periscope that allowed a view of the sleepy-churning Hudson while the saxophone of Ornette Coleman barked and bleated on the hi-fi, wringing the city’s death rattle from its harrowed throat.
Gnaw on a disappointment long enough and it will lose all flavor.
Show More
crooked." This is the fourth novel of his I've read and I remain impressed with his willingness to change styles and techniques to meet the needs of his story. He is certainly one of America's most important authors. Ray Carney's observations about life in the turbulent 60's, the cast of life long criminals and crooked cops, about playing it safe or enacting revenge--makes for entertaining reading with glimpses of a life worth rooting for. The character descriptions alone are treasures. Here's one of my favorite characters, Pepper:
"He was burly and long-limbed, stooping to hide his true size. Something off about him made you look twice, but his dark gaze made you turn before you could figure it out. He shouldn’t be there, but was. A mountain man who’d taken a wrong turn and stayed in the city, or a blown-in weed that’d found purchase in a sidewalk crack: a foreign body that had adapted to its new home."
There is talk of Whitehead continuing with The characters of this great novel; we can only hope.
Lines:
Carney took the previous tenants’ busted schemes and failed dreams as a kind of fertilizer that helped his own ambitions prosper, the same way a fallen oak in its decomposition nourishes the acorn.
Freddie’s common sense tended to fall out of a hole in his pocket—he never carried it long.
Everyone had secret corners and alleys that no one else saw—what mattered were your major streets and boulevards, the stuff that showed up on other people’s maps of you.
Pepper
He was burly and long-limbed, stooping to hide his true size. Something off about him made you look twice, but his dark gaze made you turn before you could figure it out. He shouldn’t be there, but was. A mountain man who’d taken a wrong turn and stayed in the city, or a blown-in weed that’d found purchase in a sidewalk crack: a foreign body that had adapted to its new home.
It was one thing to believe the world was indifferent and cruel, and another to wake to proof every day in the treacherous mountain slopes, the hungry gorges and ravines, the myriad jungle treachery. Only a lazy God could deliver the meanness of things so unadorned.
The diner was a shabby operation, the cracks in the floor caulked by grime, the windows cloudy.
Dorvay
It was a respite from the normal world and its demands, a hollow of private enterprise carved out of lost hours...Learned gentlemen aside, Carney knew crime’s hours when he saw them—dorvay was crooked heaven, when the straight world slept and the bent got to work.
He reminded Carney of the mouthy deputy in a Western, cocksure and cracking jokes, and liable to get offed before the final reel.
The children were spread-eagled, with their faces nestled into the crooks of their arms. All the Carneys slept like that, as if still shrinking from some primeval ugliness.
But then, Big Mike had tended his crop of grudges like a farmer, inspecting the rows, taking care they got enough water and fertilizer so that they grew big and healthy.
He took up a pipe and on warm nights perched on the fire escape overlooking Forty-Eighth, puffing, the iron scaffold a periscope that allowed a view of the sleepy-churning Hudson while the saxophone of Ornette Coleman barked and bleated on the hi-fi, wringing the city’s death rattle from its harrowed throat.
Gnaw on a disappointment long enough and it will lose all flavor.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Judiex
Ray Carney’s father was a hustler and petty thief who was killed by the police in Harlem for stealing a bottle of cough syrup from a pharmacy. Bullied in school, Ray decided that was not the kind of life he wanted to lead--“The way he saw it, living taught you that you didn’t have to live the
He graduated from high school and college. Later on, when he went to sell his father’s truck he found $30,000 hidden in a wheel. He decided to use the money and buy a furniture store so he could support his family and live a respectable life.
He did quite well selling new and used furniture as well as other items, such as jewelry. Those he sold to other buyers.. His prices were fair and he usually paid a fair price for used furniture. Sometimes, however, he turned a blind eye to the source of the merchandise he bought.
He and his wife had a child and a second was on the way. His father-in-law was a respected accountant. He wanted to be respected. They wanted a larger apartment in a better neighborhood and was working towards that goal.
Enter his cousin, Freddie The two boys had been close since childhood but Freddie preferred the life of getting money in other-than-legal ways, always as a lower level team member. He would then get Ray to be the middle man on the sale of his takings..
HARLEM SHUFFLE is the story of Ray’s life in Harlem during three time periods: 1959, 1961,and 1964. It follows Ray’s actions and decisions about what he should do to achieve his goals, what he does, and the pros and cons of his decisions.
The book is an excellent story by two time Pulitzer Prize winning Colson Whitehead. The characters are realistic and understandable. Life is depicted as it was in that place at that time. And, while entertaining and enlightening, it provides much to think about.
Seneca Village was a thriving 19th Century neighborhood for black residents of New York City in the nineteenth century. It was so desirable that the white city government took it over, drove out the residents and businesses, and turned it into what is now known as Central Park.
Show More
way you’d been taught to live. You came from one place but more important was where you decided to go.” He graduated from high school and college. Later on, when he went to sell his father’s truck he found $30,000 hidden in a wheel. He decided to use the money and buy a furniture store so he could support his family and live a respectable life.
He did quite well selling new and used furniture as well as other items, such as jewelry. Those he sold to other buyers.. His prices were fair and he usually paid a fair price for used furniture. Sometimes, however, he turned a blind eye to the source of the merchandise he bought.
He and his wife had a child and a second was on the way. His father-in-law was a respected accountant. He wanted to be respected. They wanted a larger apartment in a better neighborhood and was working towards that goal.
Enter his cousin, Freddie The two boys had been close since childhood but Freddie preferred the life of getting money in other-than-legal ways, always as a lower level team member. He would then get Ray to be the middle man on the sale of his takings..
HARLEM SHUFFLE is the story of Ray’s life in Harlem during three time periods: 1959, 1961,and 1964. It follows Ray’s actions and decisions about what he should do to achieve his goals, what he does, and the pros and cons of his decisions.
The book is an excellent story by two time Pulitzer Prize winning Colson Whitehead. The characters are realistic and understandable. Life is depicted as it was in that place at that time. And, while entertaining and enlightening, it provides much to think about.
Seneca Village was a thriving 19th Century neighborhood for black residents of New York City in the nineteenth century. It was so desirable that the white city government took it over, drove out the residents and businesses, and turned it into what is now known as Central Park.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Narshkite
It was funny to look at reviews and everyone is talking about Colson Whitehead doing something new. Whitehead has been writing light fare for years. For those, like me, who have vastly prefered his heavier fare, this is by far the best of the lot of his lighter books, and it is a heart-stopping
Though this has an Edward G. Robinson/Jimmy Cagney-esque crime caper feel, if you are looking for a traditional mystery thriller I expect you will be disappointed. If you are looking for historical fiction it works. Like most fiction that I like this book is not really about the central events, they provide a structure for Whitehead to write about bigger issues, in this case about rising as a black man at a particular time in America (and especially in NYC.) By Any Means Necessary made sense in retrospect, it mattered historically, but that was not the only discussion being had in Harlem, and in fact a tiny subsection of Harlem's residents actively engaged in the civil rights movement. Most people were ducking their heads trying to just get by. Things were bad enough without poking the bear. The work of getting anything was punishing (to body, mind, soul and conscience) for people in Harlem, and it was they who absorbed the repercussions of the fight against oppression. This tells their story, the people who had something to hold onto and a suspicion that battering down barriers would not necessarily inure to the benefit of those they loved. It tells the story of people who rose in their milieu, and knew they would never be on an even playing field that would allow them to take care of the people that mattered to them if they had to do in a place where everything was played by white men's rules. Whitehead provides such a dazzling, smart, strong and relatable character in Carney that I had no problem at all walking in his shoes and seeing the world through his lens. It was remarkable. I love this character!
Carney carries this book without a hitch and I wanted to spend as much time with him and the people he loves as possible. For that reason I do think that things went in too many directions and it was hard to stay immersed. We kept getting wrapped up in Carney's capers. They were entertaining, and I wanted to be a part of them, but for me there were too many of them and they were too far removed from one another and from Carney's family - almost like connected short stories. Like I said, still great, it is equal parts funny, touching, and violent, which is hard to argue with, and it is (as Whitehead always is) incredibly smart. Also informative. I found out I have been mispronouncing the name of the Van Wyck expressway for as long as I have been pronouncing the name of the Van Wyck. Finally, the last sentence was perfect -- everything I believe in my heart about people prettifying this city at the expense of everything that actually matters about this city was right there.
Show More
love letter to Harlem. I started this last Friday and within 20 pages I knew that I would schlep up to Harlem to read this book in the middle of Whitehead's muse. It was a good thing to do, a gorgeous day at the top end of Central Park by the Lasker Rink was the perfect place to sink into this one.Though this has an Edward G. Robinson/Jimmy Cagney-esque crime caper feel, if you are looking for a traditional mystery thriller I expect you will be disappointed. If you are looking for historical fiction it works. Like most fiction that I like this book is not really about the central events, they provide a structure for Whitehead to write about bigger issues, in this case about rising as a black man at a particular time in America (and especially in NYC.) By Any Means Necessary made sense in retrospect, it mattered historically, but that was not the only discussion being had in Harlem, and in fact a tiny subsection of Harlem's residents actively engaged in the civil rights movement. Most people were ducking their heads trying to just get by. Things were bad enough without poking the bear. The work of getting anything was punishing (to body, mind, soul and conscience) for people in Harlem, and it was they who absorbed the repercussions of the fight against oppression. This tells their story, the people who had something to hold onto and a suspicion that battering down barriers would not necessarily inure to the benefit of those they loved. It tells the story of people who rose in their milieu, and knew they would never be on an even playing field that would allow them to take care of the people that mattered to them if they had to do in a place where everything was played by white men's rules. Whitehead provides such a dazzling, smart, strong and relatable character in Carney that I had no problem at all walking in his shoes and seeing the world through his lens. It was remarkable. I love this character!
Carney carries this book without a hitch and I wanted to spend as much time with him and the people he loves as possible. For that reason I do think that things went in too many directions and it was hard to stay immersed. We kept getting wrapped up in Carney's capers. They were entertaining, and I wanted to be a part of them, but for me there were too many of them and they were too far removed from one another and from Carney's family - almost like connected short stories. Like I said, still great, it is equal parts funny, touching, and violent, which is hard to argue with, and it is (as Whitehead always is) incredibly smart. Also informative. I found out I have been mispronouncing the name of the Van Wyck expressway for as long as I have been pronouncing the name of the Van Wyck. Finally, the last sentence was perfect -- everything I believe in my heart about people prettifying this city at the expense of everything that actually matters about this city was right there.
Show Less
LibraryThing member kayanelson
I have loved the last 2 books by Colton Whitehead. But Harlem Shuffle seemed like a chore to read. I heard the author speak on this book and he did a lot of research on what Harlem was like in the 1960s. I could definitely tell this as I read and it was as if he felt compelled to put every bit of
Show More
research in the book, no matter what. It slowed down the movement of the book for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member Beth.Clarke
Probably more of a 3.5 star rating. My expectations were quite high since I loved The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys. I truly thought the character development at the beginning was good. It reminded me of Deacon King Kong by the great James McBride. But the crime story was weak and I kept
Show More
thinking more would happen. By the end, I figured nothing more would happen and I just wanted to finish it. I'll still read everything by Colson Whitehead. This just wasn't for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member brangwinn
Well, if you’re going to have a big heist its best to have a crew of characters with a variety of skills and a thief who can’t do anything right. But the book is more than a book about robbing the safe deposit boxes in the Hotel Theresa. It is about a man who really loves his family, wants to
Show More
do right but in the late 1950’s-early 1960’s Harlem that is challenging. He needs money with a new baby coming, a tiny apartment and a furniture store with monthly profits not always paying the rent. I like Ray Carney, but his in-laws can’t stand the man. He’s much darker than their light-skinned daughter and his lack of financial resources don’t please them either. What makes this book particularly special is Whitehead’s ability to portray the Harlem neighborhood in such vivid detail. Hotel Theresa, the Waldorf of Harlem, is a key location in the book filled with interesting characters and a likeable main character. Colson’s ability to bring 1960’s Harlem to life is what made it a special book for me. Show Less
Awards
Language
Original language
English