It’s sobering to see so concretely how we haven’t progressed far beyond that time. The examinations of race relations were great too, and timely. I liked the heist elements of the story, as well as the peek into the seedy underbelly of a city that can seem so full of riches. Whitehead has done a fantastic job making this past New York City feel alive. The 1950s world feels vivid and real, showing the differences in class and race in bright color and sound. The setting of Harlem also feels like its own character, in a way. The other characters, like Freddie and Pepper and Linus, are less likeable, but really intriguing too. He makes some decisions I don’t think I would have, but he also is so clearly trying to make the best choices he can for himself and his family that you can’t help but root for him anyway. Carney is a well-formed, complex character. You are really immersed in what Carney, and the other characters, think and feel.

I like the narrative style Whitehead is using here-it’s often conversational, without being overly casual. He only hopes he can navigate the tightrope safely. Now, he’s stuck living a double life, and in doing so seeing how Harlem really runs. Carney refuses, but the men and the stolen goods show up anyway. Then, his cousin approaches him with a request to be the fence for some stolen goods. However, with the ghost of his crooked father still seeming to haunt him, and his cousin’s dabbling in crime, playing it straight is proving difficult. In Harlem Shuffle, Ray Carney is trying to make an honest living by selling furniture. While this book didn’t win that award, it did make it to Barack Obama’s favorite books of 2021.This is my third novel by Whitehead, and it might be my favorite so far! He won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his last two books. Harlem Shuffle is a beautifully written novel that shows why Whitehead is considered one of the best authors around. Colson started writing the novels before his novel The Nickel Boys (if you haven’t read it, then you are missing out on one of the best novels of the past decade.) It was published in 2021 as Colson finished it in “bite-sized chunks” which explains the break-up of the novel, The novel makes a couple time skips and tells a bunch of different stories involving Carney from 1959-1964. Carney also sees how criminals legally fraud the system and the people living in Harlem and in New York.

From drug becoming a big issue in his neighborhood to protests and riots because of a murder of a teenager by a police officer. Harlem in the late 50’s and the early 60’s sees a lot of change and Carney sees it firsthand.

Book review harlem shuffle