Harlem Shuffle

A Novel

hardcover, 336 pages

Published Sept. 13, 2021 by Doubleday.

ISBN:
978-0-385-54513-6
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4 stars (28 reviews)

5 editions

Good atmosphere and evocation

4 stars

After the grimness of Underground Railroad and Nickel Boys, I had said that I would not read anymore Colson Whitehead, however I was persuaded to give Harlem Shuffle a go on the promise that it was nowhere near as dark. And that is certainly the case. The novel is split into three sections, each a story set at a different time within the life of Ray Carney, a furniture seller with a couple of dodgy side hustles. Ray makes for an intriguing central character and I loved seeing Harlem flow around him. Perhaps Harlem Shuffle wasn't always quite as gripping as I had hoped, but it was still a good book for me and I was glad to have been able to borrow a cooy.

Goodreads Review of Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

2 stars

I mean it was fine. What's there to say. Quite well written, don't get me wrong. But I found the three acts all lacking action, intrigue, and a consistent through line. None of the characters were memorable or distinct in a way that impacted the story, including the main character. They all seemed to serve as a backdrop for a story that was was not interesting enough to stand up on its own. It wasn't a bad read at all, just wholly unmemorable.

Review of 'Harlem Shuffle' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

I mean it was fine. What's there to say. Quite well written, don't get me wrong. But I found the three acts all lacking action, intrigue, and a consistent through line. None of the characters were memorable or distinct in a way that impacted the story, including the main character. They all seemed to serve as a backdrop for a story that was was not interesting enough to stand up on its own. It wasn't a bad read at all, just wholly unmemorable.

Review of 'Harlem Shuffle' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

 I wasn't surprised to see that [a:Colson Whitehead|10029|Colson Whitehead|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1561996933p2/10029.jpg] got a MacArthur Fellowship. Those used to be called "genius grants" and it's clear after reading [b:Harlem Shuffle|54626223|Harlem Shuffle|Colson Whitehead|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1612449660l/54626223.SY75.jpg|85227984] that he is that. But don't let that put you off: Whitehead may be the kind of genius who can write deep things that put people like me to sleep in a paragraph, but Harlem Shuffle, one of the ten novels Whitehead has written, isn't that. His genius is his ability to tell a story so well.
 His characters are an interesting and wide variety of people in Harlem from 1959 to 1964. The story ends five years before Whitehead was born, but the tone is perfect for the era and if they're are any anachronisms, I didn't catch them. The story has to do with unsavory types, but you end up having great sympathy for them. Somehow, Whitehead …

Review of 'Harlem Shuffle' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I read this because my book club recommended it. Even though it's not my genre, I thought it might be a good opportunity to stretch myself, to get myself out of my usual reading habits. I thought it might be a bit like The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - enjoyable because it's impressively well written.

But, this book felt formulaic. It felt like it was steady work for the author, rather than art. Like a paper that'd you'd write for school rather than an essay you're dying to publish.

There wasn't much interesting dialogue or plot. We know hardly anything about Carney's wife, apart from where she works. What would it be like to married to someone on the edge of crime? What kind of fears would you have? How would you know your husband was still alive, day after day? What if you couldn't reach him? Now …

Review of 'Harlem Shuffle' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This is a historical fiction novel which is part family saga, part gangster story, taking place in the early 1960s. The protagonist is Ray Carney, a man who is smart in every sense of the word. He's got common sense, street smarts, and a business degree. He's a man who is struggling to make a life for himself and for his family, and does not want to follow in his father's footsteps. Big Mike, as they called him, was part of Harlem's criminal underworld. And yet, this world has its hooks in Ray. He pays both a cop and a gangster protection money, and this is a dance that many step to, and keeps a part of the city's hierarchy intact.

Sure, Ray Carney is a bit crooked. He was raised on ill-gotten money and goods, and the seed money for his furniture business came from his father. And he …

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