Colson Whitehead is an incredible writer, and Harlem Shuffle is another gem added to the new literary canon.

Set in NYC in the early '60s, this book is as much a love letter to Harlem as it is an examination of race and class as told through the exploration of Ray Carney.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

I picked this book up because the author has been on my to read list for a while and the premise sounded interesting enough to a fan of historical fiction set in Black enclaves. While I knew the book revolved around heists and therefore held the promise of violence, I was not impressed by the paternalism that led much of the character interactions.

Whitehead is a literary maestro. Harlem Shuffle was a fantastic read and one that follows the story of Ray Carney. I was conflicted on Ray.....you want him to succeed but at what cost? Oh, this made me long for Harlem, a place I've never been.

I think this is one of those cases of right book, wrong reader. I enjoyed reading this book but not as much as other books by Whitehead.

Ray Carney is an interesting and very morally gray character. Through the different sections of the book, you see him slowly get deeper into the criminal underworld of Harlem in the 1960s. Carney gets involved in series of capers, going from a passive involvement to slowly becoming more active.

While crime is a large part of the book, it is is not the focus. Instead, Whitehead uses these events to explore questions of morality. I thought this was an interesting way to take on these questions but it sometimes felt a bit repetitive. The book also felt a bit disjointed at times, reading as 3 long, interconnected stories rather than a novel.

However, it’s hard not to love Whitehead’s writing and I enjoyed getting to know Carney’s story.

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy!

I have read and love Colsen’s books thus far. This one, while, okay, was a little harder for me to get into. I think Colsen does a great job giving life to the characters and the story, but I didn’t give the time this book deserved. This story is one to be savored and not rushed through:

Couldn’t get into this book so I did not finish it. I did like the premise and the writing was good.

This book felt slow and less engaging compared to Nickle Boys or The Underground Railroad. The writing was beautiful, but the story was not a page-turner. That said, even if this one wasn't for me, I will still read anything from Colson Whitehead because of how much I loved his previous books. Keep 'em coming!

Ray Carney is only <i>slightly</i> 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 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.

I really loved The Nickel Boys, and Harlem Shuffle was definitely good but it didn't have the same lasting impact on me. Colson Whitehead writes phenomenal characters that leap off the page, but the beginning starts very slow and even when it picks up, it does so in a meandering way I had to focus really intently to get through.

Enjoyed the setting and characters in this story about a man in 1960's NYC. He is trying to live his life by the rules, but friends and family have other plans.

It pains me to say this, because I loved The Nickel Boys and The Underground Railroad. But I just cannot get into this one. I’ve tried. I’ve tried three times. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s just a case of right book, wrong time? Maybe I can only really get into fantasy, romance, and murder these days? I don’t know. Maybe someday I’ll come back to it but for now it’s a DNF.

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead tells the story of Ray Carney, full-time furniture salesman and part-time hustler. He operates in that nebulous area between illegal and legal, between crooked and straight. The characters are so fully formed, the reader is able to get a full picture of people who only show up in one scene. The story has pace, but doesn't move too fast. This is a story to savor. And while there is tension, it is not unbearable. Highly recommended for all mystery fans.

Too many characters and too much action. It was hard to keep up and understand exactly what was happening.

listen, you hardly need me to tell you that when Colson Whitehead has a book out, you have to read it; however, you have to read Harlem Shuffle. the way he renders Harlem in the '60s is worth the price of admission alone. go read it.

I had a hard time connecting to this novel, even though I loved the time and setting, and the exquisite writing. I felt like I had been transported to Harlem in the 1960s and that all the characters who inhabited that world were three-dimensional, regardless of how big or small a role they played in the story. I think the sheer volume of characters and somewhat convoluted (or maybe it just seemed that way to me since I had a hard time focusing) storyline made it hard for me to stay focused as I was reading. If I hadn't recommended this to one of my book clubs, I probably would have set it aside and come back to it when I could give this book the attention it deserved. I think I was expecting more of a mad-cap heist-type tale; there is humor in here, but it's more sly and under the radar than I was anticipating, which likely impacted how I approached reading of the book. I really liked the female characters, especially Ray's wife Elizabeth, and enjoyed the scenes they were in quite a bit. I'm looking forward to reading additional works by this author because I loved "The Underground Railroad" and how he is able to create such believable worlds, no matter the time or location in which he sets them.

Many thanks to DoubleDay for a chance to read this NetGalley version!

This book is full of memorable characters, heists and shakedowns. The words jump off the pages and I could see this one play out as a movie.
Set in Harlem this ultimately reads as a love letter to Harlem. Crime and family drama keep me hooked in this one.

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Huge thank you to #doubleday and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Doubleday for granting me early access to a copy of this book.

I gave it 2 stars.

Ray Carney established an honest furniture business and has tried to live live as straight as possible, but he grew up and lives in Harlem. Surrounded by heist, crime and dangerous people, he finds himself involved in trouble regularly, especially because of his cousin, who for some reason tends to put his name up for things he didn't do.

This is an adult standalone historical fiction that takes us through the life of Carney for three decades from the 1950s.

I loved how it emphazises the importance of Juneteenth, explains what it means and what life was like for black people in those years. We should all become better allies and feel shame at how the white man treated others, segregation, racism, classism, oppression, slavery and an endless list of issues that continue to this day.

This book is character driven, so we get to see people act and reflect on their own reasons to live a certain life, understanding that you cannot always choose how it's going to go.

However, the story is full of reflections and remembrances that don't take us anywhere. Just in the last part is that we see the logic in some of what happened before, but throughout the book, the general feeling I had was that everything just jumped form one place to another, many characters where simply thrown in without explanation and there were pages that were just there, not having a purpose. Very messy indeed.

Shamefully, I gave this book 2 stars, having loved his previous work. Well, not all your books can be as good, right?

This was my first Colson Whitehead novel so maybe I went in with grandiose expectations but despite the tight, great prose the story fell flat for me. I don’t need a lot of action to love a book but when the plot is lacking and I’m not drawn to love and empathize with the characters it just doesn’t do it for me. I think The Nickel Boys or The Underground Railroad would resonate better with me. I can tell the author is gifted so I’m going to give his other work a try.

Thank you to NetGalley for advancing me a copy.

Harlem Shuffle follows Ray Carney, a furniture salesman and store owner in Harlem in the 1960s. He and his wife are expecting their second child. Cash is tight and Ray doesn’t question the origin of pieces when they come into his store. He gets pulled into a heist by his cousin, Freddie, but it doesn’t go as planned. Now Ray finds himself drawn into a new circle of clientele, forcing him to navigate a double life — One as an upstanding family man and businessman, the other as a crook. Can he pull it off?

I’m not sure any Colson Whitehead book will ever surpass my love for The Nickel Boys but that won’t stop me from continuing to read anything by him! My enjoyment of Harlem Shuffle was definitely enhanced by listening to the audiobook, read by Dion Graham, my favorite male narrator.

Colson Whitehead can write anything--and he writes beautifully. Not only is he a gifted storyteller, his sentences and narrative pacing are top-notch. Nowhere is this better on display than in the noirish HARLEM SHUFFLE. For fans of JOHN HENRY DAYS and THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD, Whitehead is here working in a (new to him) genre that affords him an even wider palette to showcase his formidable talent. I loved this book, right up through the twisty ending. I own every single book he's ever written, including this one, and will continue to read whatever he writes.