Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead Book Summary
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, this gloriously entertaining novel is “fast-paced, keen-eyed and very funny ... about race, power and the history of Harlem all disguised as a thrill-ride crime novel" (San Francisco Chronicle).
"Ray Carney was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked..." 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 Striver's Row don't approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, it's 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 doesn't ask where it comes from. He knows a discreet jeweler downtown who doesn't ask questions, either.
Then Freddie falls in with a crew who plan to rob the Hotel Theresa—the "Waldorf of Harlem"—and volunteers Ray's services as the fence. The heist doesn't 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 Shuffle's ingenious story plays out in a beautifully recreated New York City of the early 1960s. It's 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, it's a joy to read, another dazzling novel from the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning Colson Whitehead.
Look for Colson Whitehead’s new novel, Crook Manifesto, coming soon!
Harlem Shuffle Book Details
| Book Name | Harlem Shuffle |
| Genre | Literary Fiction |
| Author | Colson Whitehead |
| Published | 14 September 2021, Tuesday |
| Price | $12.99 |
| E-Book Size | 2.93 MB |
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead Book Reviews
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Tell me why Obama. Really doesn’t put the people of Harlem in a favorable light. Why did Obama like this so much?
Very good, suspense and relationships. It took a while to get into resonance with the authors change of scene. It was a very good book with deep character development. Good suspense with a hint of social commentary and relationship of two boys turned men related by family and circumstances. Would recommend this book
Outstanding. Whitehead is beyond gifted. Great book.
O. I’m p
A Very enjoyable book. Multilayered and beautifully written. You get crime drama, intriguing characters and an interesting tour of Harlem. I love this author and this book
Wonderful!. Humor, suspense, memorable characters, and New York brought to life. Sadness too. I loved it.
C’mon Apple Books. Trying to change when I finished it.
Great Read!. This book was amazing, story line compact and constantly moving. Characters are well drawn out. If only it was longer.
Nicely written, meandering story.. A nicely written character study of a slice of society at an earlier point in time (although somewhat universally applied, as not much is different). The story follows the main character through a number of different scenes. Overall, interesting but not compelling. More of a low-key exploration than a true page turner. Would rate it higher for true readers of literature, as compared to fans of the quick read.
Everyday is a Struggle. With “Harlem Shuffle”, Colson Whitehead flexes his range as an author. Placing us in a 1960’s Harlem crime and social drama that shows the beautiful and at the same time gritty sides of the city. Even in this moment in time, Whitehead does not forget the themes that have made his writing so wonderful. Moral inconsistencies and redemption arcs feature throughout the book. What makes this one even more compelling is the role of family dynamics in the story. Whitehead shows us how blood can be a reminder of where you come from and also an anchor keeping you where you are. That reflective quality makes already hard decisions into lose-lose propositions. For some of our characters being the last one laughing even while dying may be a win in itself. For those reasons and more Whitehead is proving masterful at revenge stories. Moreover, his fluid narrative style and vivid descriptions paints a picture of an American Dream that really is more of an American Hustle. Everyone playing their hand hoping that Lady Luck will be with them that day. A daily scramble for survival and social mobility that for some takes a back seat even to the race and identity battles that form the larger picture.
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5 Books like Harlem Shuffle (Colson Whitehead)
Arch Colson Chipp Whitehead (born November 6, 1969) is an American novelist. He is the author of nine novels, including his 1999 debut The Intuitionist; The Underground Railroad (2016), for which he won the 2016 National Book Award for Fiction and the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; and The Nickel Boys, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction again in 2020, making him one of only four writers ever to win the prize twice. He has also published two books of nonfiction. In 2002, he received a MacArthur Fellowship. Early life Whitehead was born in New York City on November 6, 1969, and grew up in Manhattan. He is one of four children of successful entrepreneur parents who owned an executive recruiting firm. As a child in Manhattan, Whitehead went by his first name Arch. He later switched to Chipp, before switching to Colson. He attended Trinity School in Manhattan and graduated from Harvard University in 1991. In college, he became friends with poet Kevin Young. Career After ....
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