HARLEM SHUFFLE

by Colson Whitehead

MINI REVIEW

If there was any doubt that Colson Whitehead is one of the greatest US writers living today, Harlem Shuffle should erase it.  One of few authors to have won two Pulitzer Prizes (Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys), Whitehead once again has published a superb novel.  Not only does he write beautiful prose, but his observations about race and class and life in the United States are so nuanced and spot-on that it leaves one breathless. Set in 1960s New York City, Harlem Shuffle tells the story of Ray Carney, a successful, Black furniture store owner trying mightily to keep his business successful and on the up-and-up.  But in his quest to provide for his expanding family, Ray occasionally acts as a fence for his cousin Freddie, moving pieces of jewelry from Freddie to a downtown jeweler.  Before he knows it, Ray is involved in a hotel robbery. “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.” (From the flap copy on the book jacket). Don’t wait to read this book.  It is destined to become a classic. (Liz)