Harlem Shuffle: A Novel

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 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.

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 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!

Wonderful, the characters are fleshed out and seem very real. Since I've always lived in a lilly white world, I'm learning a lot about the black world that is unknown to me. Thank you for the preview.