Crook Manifesto

Pleased to learn this is the 2nd volume of a planned trilogy. The 70s in Harlem from the eyes of Ray Carney, including a Jackson 5 concert as experienced by an accompanying dad.

This installment focuses on the 70s (Harlem Shuffle focused on the 60s), and the writing is great. There's a lot of New York specific detail about neighborhoods and streets that is lost on me, but it's necessary for a series that is so intent on using NYC much the way The Wire used Baltimore. My favorite moment is probably when the Magnavox Odyssey (the "brown box") makes a cameo. The research behind this book is pretty awesome.

Whitehead continues the story of Ray Carney from Harlem Shuffle, while also showing us more about engaging characters like Pepper and a certain arsonist-turned-filmmaker. Very enjoyable and sets up well for what will be the final volume in the trilogy.

The first Whitehead novel I read was The Underground Railroad, and I have eagerly awaited his new novels ever since. Crook Manifesto does not disappoint. It is a follow-up to Harlem Shuffle, which you don't need to have read in order to understand this book (although you should read it anyway because it is fantastic). Whitehead has an incredible gift for language, and the snappy prose in Crook Manifesto makes the book impossible to put down. At the same time, Whitehead has a sharp eye for detail, and his language also exposes the brutal reality of race relations in the 1970s. A fabulous book from a remarkably talented writer.

Follow on from Harlem Shuffle. Evolution of survival over several years. The skill employed by the developing characters and that fine line between legit and illegality ; against the backdrop of community/environmental erosion and gentrification. We feel it.