Turning his hand to crime fiction, two-time Pulitzer winner Colson Whitehead soaks readers deeply into the milieu of mid-century Harlem. The centrepiece of Whitehead’s latest novel is Ray Carney, the proprietor of Carney’s Furniture on 125th Street – a New York artery flowing through the long-time cultural epicentre of African American life.

Eisenhower precedes JFK. New edifices to industry bulldoze neighbourhoods and alter New York’s skyline.

At a time and place where local barbershops, dry cleaners, and even cake shops were often fronts for something else – “a vast secret city” laying beneath the façade – and criminals and cops alike did regular rounds to collect envelopes stuffed with cash, Ray and his Harlem store were “only slightly bent when it came to being crooked”. Ray’s a striver more than a crook, looking to earn a better future for his family through hard, (usually) honest work, despite his DNA. So, when his cousin Freddie pauses between highs to name-drop Ray to a crew planning a major heist of a local hotel, he’s understandably reluctant.

High risk carries harsh consequences. Missteps, violence, death.

After dousing readers in the horrors of slavery (The Underground Railroad) and reform school abuse (The Nickel Boys) in his two most recent novels – both of which scooped the Pulitzer Prize – Manhattan native Whitehead now soaks us in a slice of his home city’s past.

Cold War fears. Growing heroin use. Riots sparked by a white cop shooting a black teen.

Harlem Shuffle is an extremely enjoyable read that delivers a nod or two to Chester Himes, the master of African American noir, as it canters along. Where Himes – who deserves to be remembered alongside Chandler and Hammett as a hardboiled king – told bold tales via Harlem cops Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson, Whitehead centres store owner Ray, who struggles with his own identity as events unfold and his neighbourhood evolves.

Unfolding in three parts (1959, 1961, and 1964), Whitehead’s take on a crime novel entwines heists, vengeance, and a wonderfully vivid evocation of character, time, and place. With its serpentine story and zinging prose, Harlem Shuffle is a crime tale with a high thread count.

[This is a lightly edited version of a review first published in the New Zealand Listener magazine]

NetGalley ARC

"Carney was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked"

I'm ashamed to admit that this is the first Colson Whitehead book I've read. His reputation as one of the great contemporary American writers is well deserved. The book follows furniture store owner Ray Carney over brief periods of 1959, 1961 and 1964. On the criminality scale Ray is somewhere between straight and crooked, he's just a little bit bent. In the 5 years depicted we see him grow his day business and his night business. He is drawn further into the dark side of his business either by his own design or his beloved and frustrating cousin Freddie.

The characters are complex and interesting and the writing style flows well and is easy to read. Carney is a character to root for. His father was a known con artist and criminal and was in his life only sporadically. Carney wants better for himself and his family. He goes to college and eventually buys a furniture store. He takes pride in his work and the service he provides the community. When he not so reluctantly becomes a fence for stolen jewelry he asks his jewelry connection to tutor him in fine jewelry to home his expertise. That is who Ray is, if he's going to do something criminal, he's going to do it right.

While the book mostly focuses on Carney, we also get to know his wife Elizabeth, his unsupportive in-laws, thief Pepper and many Harlem characters. Whitehead also brings in historic details such as the 1964 riots, specialty travel agencies for black travelers, and the start of the "war on drugs." These details draw parallels to the present. These details draw parallels to the present and how much and how little has changed.

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead is a heist story set in the 1960s in Harlem.

If you are a fan of heist stories, crime, suspense, mysteries or historical fictions, this book is for you. However, for me it was hard to get into. The writing style was a bit too stern and made it hard for me to keep my attention. However, I know the author is popular and this book has gone out many times at the library I work at. It wasn't for me, but I know it has an audience which is always a good thing.

In addition to a great story, Colson Whitehead's writing is absolutely beautiful. It is no wonder the man has two Pulitzer's under his belt already. Harlem Shuffle is about Ray Carney, a black man from Harlem in the early 1960s, who was raised by his criminal father. The story starts with a heist gone wrong that sets in motion all kinds of trouble with all kinds of unsavory characters. It is as much a story about self identity as it is about the society Ray finds himself in. Ray sees himself as a good man, a family man, with a wife and children and all he wants is to be able to provide his family with a good home. The owner of a furniture store, he struggles between the slow pace of making a buck selling furniture and the quick large sums of money he makes involving himself in illegal activities, much of the time at the behest of his cousin, Freddie. Ray does not want to be anything like his father. This conflict, what is right versus wrong, what is crooked versus straight, is not only an inner conflict but a societal one with racism at its core set against backdrop of looting and rioting that takes place after a white cop shoots a black youth.
The white men just a few blocks up the avenue with their fancy suits and ties are "trying to run a hustle same as you", without the hiding. We are all just trying to get by, some with privilege, some without. As Ray says it best, "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."

https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit/54626223?report_event=true&survey=1

I have read two other books by this author and this one was my favorite. This one takes place in the 50s and 60s in Harlem New York. At the center is Ray Carney who is trying to balance family, a legitimate furniture business with some shady dealings with the criminal underworld. It is a murder mystery but is more focused on the characters especially Ray. It was very enjoyable and the writer did a fantastic job of transporting the reader back to that era in time. Thank you #netgalley for a fun read.
#harlemshuffle
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Thank You to #NetGalley for the ebook Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead is a slow paced historical fiction that is beautifully crafted. Readers are immersed in the Harlem landscape and cultural from the beginning. We pick up this novel in the 1950-1960's with a focus on the cultural changes that are occurring with in the landscape. The City itself is a well developed character. Overall this was an enjoyable read that I recommend to you all.

DNF around 50%. I wanted to enjoy this, but I just didn't connect with any of the characters and the directionless plot bored me to tears. The writing was well done (as it always is with Colson Whitehead), but I didn't care about the story. I was really struggling to keep reading and finally had to give up.

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead is a cinematically-written novel about Ray Carney, a married father in his 20s-30s devoted to his family and his business, a furniture store in Harlem in the late 1950s-mid 1960s. Carney’s father was a career criminal who was in and out of his life and died young. Carney has always tried to distance himself from his father’s lifestyle, but finds himself further drawn into it, even if at a distance, at least in his mind. The plot was a little meandering and I didn’t feel very connected to Carney, but Whitehead is such a good writer that his writing style draws you in. A colorful cast of supporting characters and circumstances make the novel intriguing. Harlem is so vividly depicted that the setting is really another character. I listened to the audiobook, which is perfectly narrated by Dion Graham.

Thank you Doubleday Books and NetGalley for providing this ARC.

Harlem Shuffle was my first Coleson Whitehead book, and he is clearly a very talented writer. I struggled to get into this book because of the slow pacing, and I was expecting more action scenes. I also wish the characters had been more developed, but I really enjoyed the descriptions of Harlem. It definitely came to life through the writing, which made the city feel like its own character.

Harlem Shuffle
by Colson Whitehead

Carney lives in Harlem during the 1960's...he just wants to get his family into one of those beautiful apartments he walk by at night, but he has a cousin that pulls at his life in another direction with more power than he can fully resist. This is a dense novel, with so much detail and the lives in it are woven together like fabric. Will the Carney you meet on page one be the Carney you finish the book knowing, that is the biggest appeal of this story.

Thanks to Doubleday Books for this ARC.

I enjoyed this winding but smart story. The object lesson or point of this morality tale was basically that whatever efforts you make to improve or get a leg up will lead to a situation worse than what you initially attempted to remedy. And thus the story thrusts us into Ray's life as he tries to survive in a bygone and changing Harlem. The plotting is well laid out and the story is engaging. The tone has a certain whimsy, almost a farce. Importantly, Colson provides characters who readers appreciate for their psychological depth. We get their backstories; we understand their motivations, twisted and ill-advised. But it makes sense, at least within the book's context.

Colson also spins homey bits of opinion or insight. There is something akin to affection when some tidbit or judgment is asserted.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Harlem Shuffle is the first book I’ve read by Colson Whitehead but it certainly won’t be the last. This was a story spanning the late 50s through mid 60s and focused on one main character who struggles with his internal conflict of the crooked vs the straight. Ray Carney does not want to emulate his crooked father and in many important ways he does not however he can’t quite escalate the crooked life. The story was engaging and Ray and the other characters are well-written. The setting of Harlem in a time of unrest (not so different from the summer of 2020) reminds the reader of the continuing struggle for justice. I will be returning to this author’s body of work soon.

Harlem Shuffle is the story of Ray Carney, whose father was an infamous criminal, but who has graduated college and thanks to a lucky “inheritance” bought a furniture business and respectability. Not quite enough respectability for his in-laws, but he’s mostly legit. Sure, his cousin drags him into a few scrapes. And sure, he kind of likes it, but really, he’s a respectable guy, most of the time.

But a bit of fencing on the side is an investment in their future. He sees real respectability in living on Striver’s Row where his in-laws had a home and belonging to the Dumas club, the Black businessmen’s club that identified who was who. When he is denied membership despite greasing an outstretched palm, he sets out for revenge.

Harlem Shuffle is written in three parts that could stand on their own, though each builds on the one before. The first involves his cousin getting him into a jam by mentioning him as a possible fence for a hotel heist. The second involves his pursuit of revenge after being swindled. The last returns to his cousin once again involved in an unwise, too rich for safety theft.



I liked Harlem Shuffle though I really struggled with getting into it. You know how when people talk and veer into tangents explaining how someone fits into the community, sharing bits of history as a way of putting them in context? It’s much more intrusive when written than when spoken. This became less of an issue in the latter two parts of the book. However, even when I was irritated by these tangents, I was admiring Whitehead’s craft.

He writes so beautifully, crafting sentences that make me wish I had thought of that before, with powerful metaphors that left me highlighting entire acres of text. Every book he writes is so different from the ones before. He keeps bringing us new worlds.

I received an e-galley of Harlem Shuffle from the publisher through NetGalley.

Harlem Shuffle at Doubleday | Penguin Random House
The Theresa Job excerpt from Harlem Shuffle at The New Yorker
Colson Whitehead
The Underground Railroad reviewed in 2016

When I found out that 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘭𝘦 was supposed to be Colson Whitehead's foray into thrillers, I was excited. While I do own two of his books, I have yet to read either. However, his reputation proceeds him.

Without having read his other work, I feel confident in saying that this is not the Colson Whitehead book you should start with. I could not make it through its 318 pages. I do not like leaving books unfinished, especially ARCs that are gifted to me. But after struggling with 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘭𝘦 for weeks, I am calling it quits. I made it 30 percent through, but I cannot in good conscience spend more time on a book I'm struggling through when my shelves are overflowing.

I loved the idea behind 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘭𝘦, and that it was based upon historic places of significance. But it was boring. I read far enough to find that even the robbery and hostage situation was unexciting. Add to that character development that felt surface deep and 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘭𝘦 just did not strike my interest.

Because 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘭𝘦 has received such high praise, I feel like I must be missing something in the second half of the book. But for now, I am putting this on my did not finish shelf.

Thank you Doubleday Books for the e-ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review.

Harlem Shuffle
Author, Colson Whitehead
Publisher: Doubleday
Pub date: 9.14.21

From the two- time Pulitzer Prize- winning author, Colson Whitehead's latest novel is an entertaining story filled with action, atmosphere, drama, and suspense. Harlem Shuffle takes place in the 1960's in Harlem- with Harlem almost being a character in its own- with vivid descriptions that pulls the reader right into the setting. It was powerful how Whitehead wrote of Harlem in the 60's, shared real events, and discussed racism and cultural issues as if it were today.

Ray Carney owns a furniture store and with a baby on the way, he attempts to balance his legitimate business and his family life with shady business deals and criminal connections. Although the story had a lot of potential with it's crime, suspense, and action, there were several characters to keep track of and a difficult or little to no plot to follow. Ray was a complicated protagonist who struggled between the angel and the devil on his shoulders and I appreciated his drive to build a life for his family. However, I had a tough time following his chosen journey.

A family saga, a crime novel, and a discussion of race- all with big moral questions. How will Ray navigate the path he has carved out for himself and will he be successful?

Thank you NetGalley and Doubleday for the e- ARC of this novel!

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 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.

Having read two other books by this author, I was surprised at how different this book is in its style, yet still well written. It tell the story of a furniture salesman in Harlem during turbulent mid century times, and how hard it is to escape being crooked. I am sad that I don’t know more about this era in history as specific to Harlem because I sensed much of what was described paralleled reality back then. In light of all that’s happened with Black Lives Matter over the past couple of years, it was also sad to be reminded how little has changed. Similar events were happening back then and how much progress have we really made?

Plot-wise this book is a slow build and I found it a little hard to be absorbed because I was (as already admitted) not very knowledgeable about this point in history. Many slang references and street talk went over my head. I’m sure I could have looked them up one by one but it would have detracted from the flow of my reading. I settled on not always perfectly following what was happening. There is great detail given to so many settings and generational history of the characters. It was easy to get enveloped in a side story and lose track of how it fit into the grand scheme. When it all started coming together I thought, oh yeah, this person was…

Overall, a great and poignant read by an unfailingly great author. Thank you to Doubleday for the ARC.

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 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.
#Harlem Shuffle

Along with Colton Whitehead’s other books I found this to be an exceptional read. The first thing I loved is the characters. Although many are flawed, whether they are blurring ethical lines or just throwing the rules right out the window, he makes no judgments and allows us to draw our own conclusions. They are well developed and I really felt invested in their stories until the end. Next, the setting. He totally draws you into 1960’s Harlem and you really get a feel for the time period; whether it’s the charged social atmosphere, the shifting political landscape, or the changing economic opportunities. And all the while he weaves this compelling storyline without you feeling you’re reading a history lesson. Last, is the overall tone of the book. It was like a slow burning thriller and although it’s not filled with a lot of action I was still on the edge of my seat. There were many times I had the same emotions as watching Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” and for me that tension pushed the story forward. Overall I say this is a great book which I highly recommend and I’m excited to hear he’s working on a sequel.

Honest review ahead, as always…I hoped this one would save my September but alas, it joined the other disappointing reads of the month. The one victory for me was that I did not DNF it, as much as I wanted to. Yes, the writing is beautiful but…there was too much of it for me. Long paragraphs of verbose description comprised the majority of the story. The characters were plentiful…as in, I needed a cast list to keep track of everyone. And with all the descriptive writing, I could never really find the depth of each man in order to care about them. And yes, they were all men. The few women in the story were mostly bystanders, never fully fleshed out. Admittedly, I love strong female leads (ie Toni Morrison, Brit Bennett, Alice Walker, etc) so this book with its male-centric focus was less enjoyable for me. The neighborhood of Harlem is truly the main character and Whitehead fully develops Harlem so that we hear the pulse, we see the heart, we sense the anger and frustration from the long arms of historic racism; that is the genius of his writing.